This one takes a lot of time to boil the broth down, so either start in advance, or have lots of hors d’ouevres ready for your guests. Before dinner, a nice Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand might work. Do you have a Wilson Pickett album? Put it on! Cut the tenderloin into medallions. Cut it somewhat diagonally to get a larger, more oval medallion. Pound the medallions with something to tenderize them. The back of a large knife works very well. In a skillet on medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of butter and the medallions, brown the tenderloin on both sides, and then set aside in a warming oven. Be quick, and don't overcook the pork! Add the onions to the skillet. After they are translucent, maybe three minutes, set 2/3rds of them aside with the pork. Add the broth to the skillet and bring to a boil on high heat. Press in the clove of garlic. (A single clove of garlic is pretty paltry by my standards for almost any recipe, but in this sauce all you want is a hint, and a clove, in my experience, is enough.) After it is reduced by half, add a fairly good pour of port, maybe three ounces (I never really measure this stuff, so that's a guess). Add only slightly less than a pinch of thyme (dried is fine, but maybe slightly MORE in that case) and reduce to about a half a cup. If the sauce doesn’t seem to be reducing to a consistency you like, try adding some flour a pinch at a time. When you have a half a cup of a sauce the consistency you like, put it onto the plates, reserving a tiny bit for garnish, and arrange the tenderloins atop the sauce in a manner you think looks rather smart. Spoon the remaining sauce over the top of the tenderloins. Using fresh rosemary if you can, chop enough so that you can scatter just a bit over the top of the pork array you have just created. A little fresh rosemary goes a long way so, maybe just a pinch or two per serving. Grind just a twist of pepper across the top before serving. (If you are going to start early, put the broth in a separate saucepan and bring to a boil. Your objective will be to reduce it to about half a cup. Reduce it by half, and then hold on. Start cooking the other ingredients as above when you’re ready and when you set them aside pour the reduction into the pan you’ve been cooking in and go from there.) This goes well with a mix of wild and white rice, and maybe some simple boiled beets. A robust wine is welcome with something like this, so I might suggest something along the lines of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape, especially if it’s Vieux Telegraphe, or Syrah or Shiraz from California or Australia. If you’re serving beets, reddish table linens and napkins are recommended. Of course, bon appetit! |