Quick blurb – this dish is what got me booted off Masterchef-lol. I misunderstood the floor manager’s instructions and didn’t plate up half the dish in time. It was all cooked but I tried to keep it heated for as long as possible. Oh well! I wasn’t a bit prepared for the next round so even half of this dish was better than what I would’ve attempted if I was put through. Given I only applied because my sweetheart of a sister-in-law sent me the application first thing on a Monday morning and I was happy to distract myself from emails for a half hour, I’m happy I made it that far. It was a lovely experience so all positives in my book.
This is one of my comfort dishes that brings back happy memories of my time learning how to cook in my tiny Dublin 1 apartment. It’s super easy, and not much clean up so perfect for a mid week dinner or a quick meal for friends at the weekend. No shame in breaking out the jar of mint sauce either to keep it extra easy breezy. I buy the pork tenderloin/ steak and freeze it until needed. The rest of the ingredients are usually in the cupboard so no extra trips to the shop needed. Fresh or from a jar, the mint sauce really does make it, so don’t skip it!
Ingredients
- 600g pork tenderloin
- 2 tblsp olive oil
- 15 g butter
- a bunch of mint leaves
- 1 tblsp caster sugar
- 15 ml white wine vinegar
- 25 ml extra virgin olive oil
- pinch of salt
- 2 tblsp tomato purée
- 1 tblsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tblsp soy sauce
- 1 tblsp honey
- 100 g butter beans (tinned)
- 100 g garden peas (tinned)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 70 g smokey bacon bits/ lardons/ prosciutto
Method
- Remove any sinew from the pork. Add the olive oil and butter to a large frying pan.
- Season the pork and fry, sealing each side over a medium heat until nearly fully cooked through. Add the bacon bits/ chopped bacon to the same pan and fry until crisp. Set the bacon aside in a mixing bowl.
- Prepare the glaze, mixing the purée, soy, red wine vinegar & honey. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200 deg. Add the mint leaves to a pestle and mortar, followed by the caster sugar, grind into a paste. Then add the white wine vinegar, pinch of salt and olive oil and mix well.
- Transfer the pork to the roasting tray, pour the glaze over and oven roast to thicken the glaze and coat the meat. Drain the peas and beans and add to boiling salted water. Heat for 2-3 minutes and drain fully.
- Chop the garlic cloves, add to the pea and bean mix. Season to taste. Leave the pork to rest for two minutes while prepping to plate up.
- Serve with pan juices followed by the mint sauce drizzled over the meat.
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