Pork Tenderloin Recipe Sautéed with Apple, Thyme, and Mustard

pork tenderloin, sliced and ready to eat

5 from 1 vote

Pork Tenderloin Recipe Sautéed with Apple, Thyme, and Mustard

This simple, but delicious pork tenderloin is sauteed with fennel, apples, garlic, onions, radicchio and herbs before being pan seared and finished in the oven.

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 45

Brining Time 1

Total Time 1 1

Servings slices

Calories 221kcal

Author Kelli Fras

Ingredients

For the Brine:

6 cups hot water
¼ cup sea salt (fine)
1 tbsp whole peppercorns
2 pork tenderloins (1-1½ lb)
¼ cup apple cider vinegar

For the Pork:

2 to 3 lbs pork tenderloin (they sold in 2 packs, approx 1 to 1 ½ lbs each)
¼ cup stone ground mustard
2 tbsp fresh thyme (chopped)
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp ghee (or cooking fat of choice)

For the Sauté:

1 yellow onion (medium-sized, sliced)
2 heads fennel (cored and sliced)
2 granny smith apples (skin-on, cored and sliced)
1 head radicchio (cored and shredded)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
2 inch fresh ginger (minced)
1 tbsp fresh thyme
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp raw honey
sea salt (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
1 tbsp ghee (or cooking fat of choice)

Instructions

Night Before - For the Brining:

Dissolve the sea salt by stirring it into a large bowl filled with 6 cups of hot water.
Once the salt is dissolved, add the peppercorns, bay leaf and vinegar to the mix.
You can either wait until the brine cools, or if you’re impatient like me, you can add in enough ice cubes to cool it down. You just don’t want the brine to begin to cook the pork.
Add the pork tenderloins to the brine, cover, and pop it in the fridge. Twenty-four hours is optimal, but twelve will do. It's best to do this step the night before. If not, just be sure to do it before you leave for work in the morning!

Cooking the Pork:

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Remove the pork from the brine and pat it dry. Often times, pork tenderloin will come with a silver skin on it. The silver skin is tough, so remove by slicing it off gently with a sharp knife.
You’ll notice that one end of the pork is tapered, so you’ll want to tie the skinny end underneath itself with some kitchen twine so that the pork cooks evenly.
In a small bowl, combine the stone ground mustard and 2 tbsp of fresh thyme and set it aside.
Chop your onions, apple, fennel, radicchio, garlic and ginger and set them aside.
Heat two large skillets on the stove top. I like to use cast iron for the pork because it’s oven safe, and you’ll be transferring the pork to the oven to finish cooking. Heat the pan you’ll be cooking the pork in over medium high heat. Heat the pan you’ll be cooking your saute in over medium heat. Add your ghee to their respective skillets to heat.
Season each pork tenderloin generously with sea salt and pepper on all sides, and rub the mustard and thyme mixture into the meat….really massage it. Get personal with it.
Add the pork to the hot skillet and sear it on all sides until it’s nicely browned.
At the same time, add the reserved, chopped veggies to the other skillet. Season generously with sea salt and pepper and add the rest of the fresh thyme. Toss to combine.
When seared on all sides, transfer the pork pan to the oven and cook uncovered for 12-15 minutes, or until the pork reaches an internal temperature of 145°F. The USDA used to recommend cooking to an internal temp of 160°F, but they have since amended that recommendation to 145°F. 160 was overkill and dried out the pork!
While the pork is in the oven, finish up the saute. When the onions and fennel are translucent and the apples have softened slightly, add in the vinegar and honey. Stir, and cook until the vinegar has reduced, about another 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with sea salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Remove the pork from the oven. Take it out of the pan and set it on a cutting board to rest for five minutes! This is important! Don’t skip this step. The meat will continue to carry-over cook during this time, and the juices will redistribute. If you cut into it right now, the juices will all come running out.
When the pork has rested, slice it and serve it on top of the sauté. Enjoy!

Notes

If the pan you are browning the pork in on the stove is not oven proof, you can simply transfer the meat to a baking pan before putting it in the oven.

Nutrition