Recently I received an email from the fine folks at Artisse Organic, purveyors of spices and rub seasonings here in Australia. I was asked if I could come up with a use for some of their products and on a whim I wrote back and said, “How about a pork tenderloin roasted with your Butcher’s Meat Rub and served with a wattleseed cream sauce?”
They wrote back and said, “We’ll send you some.” In TWO days I got a wonderful box from Artisse for me to test out in all sorts of recipes, but I promised the pork tenderloin. You know how it is, you run your mouth off and then you have to back it up. I looked at my husband and said, “just shoot me, what if it tastes like crap?” He was NO help because he just laughed.
I figured we could eat pork tenderloin for a month until I got it right or the rub can ran out but thankfully the first version was fantastic. The only problem was I’d put the sauce together by a little of this and some of that and pinch of something else and I had only a good clue. I wrote to the Artisse rep and said it was great but I have no idea what I put in it so I have to make it again.
I had a good idea but “sort of a cup” isn’t on any ingredient list. Last night we had it again and this time I wrote it down as I went along and it was even better than before. If you have access to Artisse products you’ll LOVE this Butcher’s Meat Rub. In Australia it’s available at Coles, Woolworths, IGA and many health stores. I’d seen it at my local Coles but I hadn’t tried it yet.
I served it with steamed broccoli and crispy roasted potatoes – I’ll blog about the roasted potatoes next. They were nearly as good as the meat.
To make the sauce I needed some “meatiness” for the base so after I added the rub, I chopped off the flat ends of the pork tenderloin. I’m sure that the skinny end has a proper name but I don’t know what it is. I just cut it off and chopped it in small pieces and fried it in a little bit of oil until it got crispy. I deglazed the pan with some dry white wine and for a hint of sweetness I added one tablespoon of port. After reducing the wine, I added cream that I’d mixed in wattleseeds and some lemon myrtle and then reduced the sauce. I used just a pinch of salt and a big grind of pepper and BAM.. it was delicious.
Wattleseeds and lemon myrtle are Australian native spices. I got mine from Oz Tukka who sell online worldwide. I bought mine locally so if you’re in Australia you should be able to find it easily. I’ve made a wattleseed cream sauce before but in that one you pan fry slices of pork tenderloin and bake it in the sauce. This was much easier but both are yummy.
The meat was so good and it was so easy. The most difficult part of making the pork tenderloin was taking the plastic off the tin of Butcher’s Meat Rub. I smeared olive oil over the pork and sprinkled the rub over it and “rubbed.” In the oven at 210C for 13 minutes and then turn over and cook for another 10 minutes or so (depending upon the size of your tenderloin, mine were small).
If you like pork, you will love this dish.
- 2 pork tenderloins
- 2 tsp Artisse Butcher's Meat Rub
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tbs vegetable oil
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 tbs port
- 1 cup cream
- ½ tsp wattleseeds
- ¼ tsp lemon myrtle
- salt and pepper to taste
- chopped fresh parsley for garnish
- Sprinkle the Butcher's Meat Rub over the pork and rub it in.
- Cut the flat end of the pork tenderloins off and roughly chop
- Preheat oven to 210C for 10 minutes
- Place pork in oven and roast for 13 minutes then turn meat over and cook for another 11 minutes or until done (depends upon the size of your tenderloin and mine was small)
- While pork is roasting, fry the flat ends in vegetable oil til crispy and then remove. (the dog really liked it but you could leave it in the sauce)
- Deglaze with white wine and port and reduce by half
- Mix wattleseeds and lemon myrtle with cream and then add it to the sauce
- Add pepper and only a pinch of salt.
- Reduce heat and cook slowly til sauce is thick.
- Test for seasoning and serve. I found it didn't need much salt at all.
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