There is no one who would suggest that I am anything close to perfect. This is a fact that is brought into specific relief every time I try a new recipe. I frequently fail to read carefully enough and miss a step that takes a half hour which means we end up eating at 7:00 instead of 6:30. Once or twice I have missed things that take 3 hours and have had to scramble to get completely change direction so that my daughter doesn’t go to bed hungry. That’s how we ended up with sunny side up eggs on feta and sautéed spinach over capellini which somehow became my daughter’s favorite meal.

The first time I made this my daughter went back for thirds which is pretty rare and I knew I had to make it again. That was when I realized I had screwed up and missed the fact that this was a recipe for 2 tenderloins, not one. It took about a second to decide that they were wrong and I was right. From there, I adapted the recipe to work with the sous vide and this is what we ended up with.

While this is awesome on its own, the best part is having the awesome leftover tenderloin to play with (which is a teaser for future posts …).

Equipment

• 2 12″ squares of tin foil
• 1 Gallon freezer storage bag
• Small baking dish, a 9″ pie pan works well, for roasting the carrots
• 2 Small bowls for mixing spices
• Grill pan or sautée pan that will accommodate a whole pork tenderloin
• Small pot with a lid for making the wild rice

Ingredients

• Pork …
  • 1 pork tenderloin 1-1.5 pounds
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked salt
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • Fat for searing (butter/duck fat/bacon fat/olive oil/etc.)
• Carrots
  • 1 lb carrots peeled and cut in about 3″ sticks
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon butter, diced
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
• Wild rice
  • 1 cup wild rice
  • 2 cups water
  • a pat of butter

Time: About two hours

Yield: 4 portions plus a lot of leftover tenderloin

Instructions:

1. Set the sous vide to 130ºF/55.5ºC.
2. Set the oven to bake at 400ºF/204.4ºC
3. In a small bowl, mix together all of the spices for the pork.
4. Place the pork on one of the sheets of foil (you can also use a dish or something for this but I find it’s super easy to use foil and then just throw it in the recycling) and coat it on all sides with the spice mixture.
5. Put the pork in the 1 gallon bag, dump any spice left over on the foil in as well.
6. With the top of the bag open,  slowly lower the bag into the water until the pork is totally submerged and then close the bag.
7. Peel the carrots and cut them in about 2.5″ pieces.
8. In the other small bowl, mix the other carrot ingredients with a small fork, taking care to make sure the butter is smashed.
9. Put the carrot pieces in the baking dish and pour the mixture over them.
10. Cover the carrots with the second piece of foil and then give them a shake to coat the carrots with the mixture. Make sure to hold on carefully so that the carrots do not go flying around your kitchen.
11. When the pork has been in the sous vide for about 30 minutes, put the wild rice, butter, and water in the small pot over high heat.
12. Once the water is boiling, stir the rice, put the lid on, and turn the heat down very low so that the water is just simmering. You should now have about 45 minutes left on the clock.
13. Put the carrots in the oven with the foil still on.
14. With about 5 minutes left, put the pan you are going to use for searing the pork on the stove over medium high heat.
15. When the pork comes out of the sous vide, drop the oil in the pan and sear it on all sides to a nice, golden brown. This should take about 2 minutes per side.
16. Remove the pork from the pan and set it on a plate to rest for about 5 minutes, during which …
17. Get out your plates and dish out the rice and carrots.
18. Slice the pork into half inch slabs and serve!

If you don’t have a sous vide …

1. Preheat the oven to 400º
2. Peel the carrots and cut them in about 2.5″ pieces.
3. In the other small bowl, mix the other carrot ingredients with a small fork, taking care to make sure the butter is smashed.
4. Put the carrot pieces in the baking dish and pour the mixture over them.
5. Cover the carrots with the second piece of foil and then give them a shake to coat the carrots with the mixture. Make sure to hold on carefully so that the carrots do not go flying around your kitchen.
6. Put the wild rice, water, and butter in a small pot. When it starts to boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
7. Put the carrots in the oven with the foil still on.
8. In a small bowl, mix together all of the spices for the pork.
9. Place the pork on one of the sheets of foil (you can also use a dish or something for this but I find it’s super easy to use foil and then just throw it in the recycling) and coat it on all sides with the spice mixture.
10. When the carrots have been in the oven for about 15 minutes, heat some fat over medium high heat.
11. Sear the pork until it is lightly browned on all sides. this should take about 10 minutes.
12. By now the carrots should have been in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and add the tenderloin to the carrots then put them back in the oven for about 18 minutes or until a meat thermometer says 145º.
13. Plate and serve!

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