This pork tenderloin is delicious. Honey-y and butter-y and sage-y and delicious. The recipe is adapted from my trusted friend Martha (I added the sage – rosemary or thyme would probably be really good as well), and as usual, she did not disappoint. This is easy enough for a weeknight but tasty enough for company. I can’t think of anything else to say, other than DELICIOUS.

The roast potatoes are adapted from Clothilde’s roast potatoes on Chocolate & Zucchini. I think her original recipe has the oven temperature a bit higher, but I find that they roast better at 375˚ F. The trick is parboiling the spuds, then draining them and giving them a good shake (with the lid on!) to bash them around a bit and create a soft, slightly mashed layer on the outside of each potato piece that gets nice and crunchy in the oven. Preheating the oil (I hear duck fat makes the best roast potatoes!) in the oven ensures that the spuds don’t soak up too much oil. It might sound complicated, but it’s really not, and it’s definitely worth the extra steps of parboiling and shaking! (Actually the shaking part is pretty fun 😉 )

It just so happens that the oven temperature for both of these dishes is 375˚ F, so they play well together. I preheated the oven (and the roasting pan and oil for the spuds) while the potatoes were parboiling, then started roasting the spuds while I prepped the pork, which took about 20 minutes. The pork then went in the oven with the potatoes for another 15-20 minutes, at which time everything was perfectly roasted and beautiful. Yum.

Perfect Roast Potatoes

Adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Pour 1 large tbsp of vegetable oil (not olive oil – something with a high smoke point) into a roasting pan and place in the oven to heat (a larger pan is better – if the spuds are crowded they won’t roast as nicely).

Place in a pot:

3-4 medium sized potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cut into bite-sized pieces (I used red potatoes and peeled them in stripes so that there was still some skin for texture and colour)

Bring to a boil (covered) in salted water over high heat. Turn down to medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Immediately drain potatoes (keep them in the pot), replace the lid, and shake the pot vigorously back and forth 4 or 5 times (hold the lid on with oven mitts or a cloth!).

Remove the hot pan and oil from the oven. Carefully pour the potatoes into the pan (watch for spattering oil). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and stir to coat the potatoes in the oil. Place back in the oven and roast for 35-40 minutes, gently stirring a few times, until golden brown and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Serves 2-3.

Pork Tenderloin with Honeyed Butter and Sage

Adapted from Martha Stewart

1 pork tenderloin, about 400-500 grams

12 sage leaves, cut in half (my sage plant is a dwarf sage and has tiny leaves – I probably used about 24 leaves, which are about half the size of regular sage leaves)

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Remove any extra fat and silverskin from tenderloin, then tuck the skinny tapered end under and tie with kitchen string to make the whole length of the tenderloin a more even thickness.

Poke holes in the tenderloin with a knife and use the tip of a chopstick (or your finger) to poke a sage leaf into each hole – probably about 24 holes over both side of the tenderloin.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cut the tenderloin in half to give you two smaller chunks.

In a an oven-proof skillet over medium-low heat, stir together:

3 tbsp butter

1 heaping tbsp honey

Let the butter and honey bubble and darken slightly (lower the heat if it starts to darken too fast). Add the pork and turn it to brown on all sides, about 1-2 minutes per side. Add 12 6 – 8 more torn sage leaves to the pan and transfer to the oven.

Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the tenderloin is 160˚ F. Place the pork on a plate to rest and put the pan with the honey-butter-sage sauce on the stove over medium heat. Add 1-2 tbsp of water to the pan and bring to a low simmer while stirring. Slice the pork into half cm slices. Serve with the sauce and try to resist the urge to to lick your plate clean! Serves 2-3.