Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin on a bed of Roasted Deliciousness
It does not really get better than having some pork with your pork, does it?! Well, not in my opinion anyway - and this "almost" one pan meal was no exception! Nothing gives me more pleasure in my kitchen than trying out new stuff. Enroute to the shops last week, I asked Dave what he felt like for dinner. When I don't get an answer or the answer is a shoulder shrug, then I generally end up hopping on to google while we drive and making some random search like "delicious dinners" or something like that.
That was precisely what happened and a stew like pork fillet recipe image popped up. It looked delicious, so in an instant, I was sold on doing something with pork tenderloin. Needless to say, I did not follow the recipe, nor did what I made end up looking or tasting anything like what had inspired me - but that is not really the point. It just gives me a direction to move in - that is all I need. I detest recipes anyway... they are way too much like rules, lol!
Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin on a bed of Roasted Deliciousness
Like I said, this was an "almost" one pan meal... with the exception of one thing... the jacket potatoes - and for very good reason, which I will explain later - but just mentioning it so you understand why the ingredients for the potatoes have been listed separately. For now, let's take a look at what you will need - as there were a few things which I omitted in the above photograph!
WHAT YOU NEED
THE MEAT
1 Pork tenderloin
1 Pack of bacon rashers
THE RUB
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Crushed garlic powder
Cajun chicken spice (any chicken spice will do)
Braai and grill spice (any BBQ or meat spice will do)
Freshly chopped rosemary
Freshly chopped thyme
Olive Oil
THE VEG
1 butternut, unpeeled & sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 small pack of green beans, topped and tailed.
1 small pack of sweet baby broccoli
1 bell pepper, sliced - colour of your choice.
A handful of whole cherry tomatoes
THE POTATOES
About 10 baby jacket potatoes, halved
half a packet of dry brown onion soup
A dessert spoon of crushed garlic
Two dessert spoons of butter
salt & pepper
potato spice (optional)
A handful of freshly chopped parley
Right, so that's the ingredients done! Let's tackle the potatoes first. The reason I did these separately was so that they hold a flavour of their own entirely. Brown onion baby potatoes is a dish I make often as a side and is loved by absolutely EVERYONE who eats it, so I wanted to incorporate that within this dish.
First slice the baby potatoes and then give them a rinse. Pop a pot of water on the stove and bring it to the boil. add the sliced potatoes once the water is boiling. Boil that for ten minutes so the potatoes are only par boiled. Remove and drain. While the potatoes are still hot in the pot, add the butter, the brown onion soup, the garlic, the frshly chopped parsley and the salt, pepper and potato spice. Use your own judgement when it comes to the salt, pepper and potato spice - this is very much a personal preference thing - but don't be too heavy handed with the salt, as the brown onion soup is rather salty on its own.
Pop the pot lid on and give it a good shake to get the potatoes coated in all the yumminess within the pot. If your pot lid does not seal properly, I would suggest doing this over the sink, otherwise you are going to have a less than fun mess on your hands! Once they are all coated nicely, they can be left to cool so the coating can "set".
Next up, is to prep the pan. Any oven roasting pan will do. I always line my roasting pan with a sheet of foil because it just makes cleaning easier and preserves the pan in the long run, but this is not necessary. Then add a little olive oil to the pan.
Slice your butternut with skin on - I am not much of a believer in peeling away the goodness of the skins on vegetables in general, but in this instance it was more a matter of keeping the medallions in tact as the butternut is on the bottom and is the veg which will be subjected to most of the juices while cooking. Once sliced, place them on one layer on the bottom of the pan. Then peel and slice the onion and place that on top of the butternut.
Then top, tail and rinse your green beans. Wash and slice the bell pepper and rinse the baby broccoli. Add the sliced bell pepper on top of the onion and butternut but do not add anything else just yet.
Now we can prep the meat! Finely chop the rosemary and thyme and have that on hand. On a separate piece of foil or on a meat board - add some olive oil, all your spices listed for the rub and the chopped herbs. Now give the piece of tenderloin a good massage, making sure you cover it all nicely with the rub. There is no exact science when doing a rub so use your personal discretion as to how much of each particular herb or spice you may like.
Once the meat is coated nicely, grab your pack of bacon rashers and wrap them around the tenderloin, with the open ends on the bottom of the tenderloin. Place the tenderloin into the pan with the butternut etc.
Once the meat has been added to the pan, all that is left to do is scatter the green beans, the broccoli, the potatoes and the cherry tomatoes. While you are doing that - get the oven ready. You want to start by broiling - so set your oven to grill and place the rack in the top third of the oven. When the grill element is nice and hot, pop your completed pan into the oven
Pork tenderloin is not like other cuts of pork where the principle of "slow cooking = tender meat", in fact it is quite the opposite. In order to get the best result you are going to do quite a quick cook... so, once it is under the grill for the broil, you will leave it there for 15 minutes - but do keep an eye on it to ensure that the bacon is not burning.
You DO however want to get a really nice roasted and charred look on everything. I actually did seven minutes per side - flipping the pork over, however - this just made it messy with the bacon wrapping... so I would suggest NOT turning it and rather just cooking it for fifteen minutes on one side until the bacon is deliciously golden and crispy.
Next, swap the oven over to a bake setting (ie. element on top and bottom), shift your tray to the middle of the oven and bake at 200 degrees Celsius (392 F) for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and remove the pork from the tray. Allow the pork to sit for fifteen minutes before serving and at that point, check your veg - if they are tender but firm, PERFECT - if they still feel a little on the firm side, then pop the tray (excl. the pork) back into the oven and reduce the heat to 100 (212 F) degrees Celsius for the period which the pork tenderloin is resting. And that is it! You are ready to serve!
Bon Appétit
❤❤❤
Until next time...
Much Love from Country Bumpkinland, South Africa xxx
Jaynielea
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Your meal looks amazing and I'm sure it tastes good, I kept on licking 😋 my mouth all through your post wishing I could taste that although I haven't seen anything like it which makes me more curious 👀 to taste, I wish you good luck in the contest.
hahaha!!! Thank you so much @woka-happiness :) I appreciate the positive vibes, feedback and salivation haha!!! Thanks for stopping by to read xxx Hope you have a gorgeous Tuesday!
🥰 thanks too ma'
xxx