Monday, May 25, 2009

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Fava Beans & Roasted Tomato Salad


Happy Memorial Day to my divas! As my special gift to you, I'm sharing my grilled pork tenderloin recipe I made this weekend. Inspired by the holiday weekend, the great organic, seasonal fare and my recent trip to Lucques, I put together one of the very best dinners I've cooked in a long time! Recently, I'd been lucky enough to procure a beautiful piece of organic pork tenderloin. I'd also collected lovely organic fava beans which happen to be in season right now. Working with these two ingredients, I formulated my complete menu. To prepare the pork, I crusted it with herbs and grilled it until it was medium rare, serving it over the blanched fava beans. I topped it off with a roasted tomato feta salsa and a sherry shallot vinegarette. I also prepared some lovely roasted new potatoes to serve with the main dish.


Domestic Diva's Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Fava Beans & Roasted Tomato Feta Salad

Ingredients

pork tenderloin
1 tbsp thyme, chopped
1 tbsp rosemary, chopped
1 tbsp sage, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup fava beans

tomato feta salad:

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp goat feta cheese
salt and pepper

sherry shallot vinegarette:

2 tbsp sherry vinegar
1/4 olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
salt and pepper

Directions:

To cook the fava beans, shell them and then blanch for 2 minutes in salted, boiling water. Remove from the water and cool in an ice bath. Peel off the shells around the beans and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the cherry tomatoes seed side up in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven until well cooked and soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Mix them with the feta cheese to make the salad.

To make the vinegarette, place the sherry vinegar in a bowl and slowly whisk in the olive oil. Add the shallots and season to taste with salt and pepper.

To make the pork, coat it in the olive oil and herbs. Meanwhile, heat up the grill. Once it's hot, throw the tenderloin on the grill and cook, turning every few minutes until medium rare. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing.


To place, place some of the fava beans on the bottom of the dish. Layer a few slices of pork on top and top with the tomato feta salad. Drizzle the vinegarette on top. Serve with roasted potatoes if desired. Enjoy!

Wine Tasting Notes: Blackbird 2005 Paramour

Diva Rating: 4 stars (out of 5 stars)

To pair with this great dinner, Kuzak opened a spectacular bottle of Blackbird's merlot/cabernet franc blend with a tiny bit of cabernet added. A big, smooth wine that we decanted and that showed the most character by the end of the night, we enjoyed it down to the last drops. It had great fruit and nice structure, a wine that could withstand aging, but that was also drinking great right now. While they've raised their prices recently, this is a wine that I would consider buying again.

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