Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

Happy Monday, everyone! The sun is out, it looks like Spring is finally here, and I am actually being somewhat productive today. I am sorry this post is a little late in coming, but since today is the first day in about two weeks that I have actually been somewhat productive, at least I'm finally getting to it.

I would like to share a recipe that I made last Tuesday (see - almost a week behind schedule here!) for dinner. I am always trying new recipes, so it is really rare that Mike gets to eat something that we call "Tried and True", but this is one of those. And seriously, folks, I have an old-school, blue, three-ring binder with a label on it that reads "Tried and True". The really really good recipes go in there. You should see this binder. Maybe I will actually take a picture of it one of these days. Some of the recipes have been printed off blog posts or All Recipes (www.allrecipes.com), and most of them are covered in my handwriting with all the changes I have made. And to be honest, most of them are also covered in... well... things like chocolate fingerprints, butter smears, tomato sauce splatters, and other things that I have decided not to examine too closely. In other words, it's a real cookbook.

This recipe is in that cookbook, and I have written all over it, and it is liberally splattered with red wine. Burgundy wine, to be exact. The recipe is Burgundy Pork Tenderloin. It's easy, it's delicious, and it is made with two cups of wine. What's not to love?

So this particular journey begins with a pork tenderloin, a baking dish, and some spices. Not a lot, oddly enough. I know most of the recipes that I share have a long list of spices, but this one has salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Rub spices into the pork loin.

 Then you add a coarsely diced onion to the mix. I used a sweet onion for this because I like the combination of flavors when you add the wine, but yellow onions work well, too.

Yes, that's the wine. Two cups of it. And the really nice part is that there are two cups left over for drinking!

 

 You pour the wine over the tenderloin and the onions, and then you bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

 When you remove it from the oven 45 minutes later, it is burgundy in color. Yeah, I like my food purple!

 Remove the tenderloin from the pan and stir the secret ingredient (a package of brown gravy mix) into the wine and onion mixture. Okay, I realize that you are thinking that brown gravy mix has no business being a secret ingredient, but just trust me on this one.

 Slice the pork and serve with the onions and the wine/gravy sauce over the top. And of course any wine that still remains after the 45 minute cooking period.

We had ours with green beans and mashed red potatoes. Delicious!

I originally got this recipe off of All Recipes (original recipe can be found here), but these are the modifications that I have made:

Burgundy Pork Tenderloin

Makes about 8 servings. Cooks for 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 sweet onion, coarsely chopped
2 cups burgundy wine
1-2 (.75 ounce) packet(s) dry brown gravy mix, depending on your taste preferences

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Place pork in a 9x13 inch baking dish, and sprinkle meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pat it into the meat so it is well stuck. That way the wine won't wash it off. Top with onion, and pour wine over all. Bake for 45 minutes.
 
When done baking, remove meat from baking dish, and place on a serving platter (or if you are like me, a plate). Pour gravy mix into baking dish with wine and cooking juices, and stir until thickened. Slice meat, and cover with the gravy and onions.