Pork with Mustard Mushroom Pan Sauce

Don't you just love mustard? I have at least a dozen types of mustard in my fridge at any given time and I have also recently started dabbling in the making of my own mustard, which is pretty damned exiting for me. I don't get out much.

Anyway, the #1 staple in my fridge is always Maille old style whole grain mustard. I usually have their honey mustard as well but the giant jar of grainy mustard is alway in there. I use it in sauces like this

one, in vinaigrettes, on meats, with grilled sausages and in sandwiches. The boys prefer plain old yellow mustard on their sandwiches because they are freaks but not me. When Maille asked for Canadian bloggers to be Maille Mustard Mavericks I was all over that like a Toronto racoon on a green bin the day after Christmas. I almost felt guilty grabbing a free jar of grainy mustard because it's not a new product for me at all but who can say no to a free jar of something they already love?

The Maille store , sorry BOUTIQUE, in Paris is the shiz. You can get over 40 varities of mustard-  blue cheese mustard, truffle mustard, cognac mustard and a zillion other really amazing sounding things. Here in Canada, we can't get these fancy mustards and that makes me very, very sad. We can only get a handful of mustards and they are all really great but I would give anything for some truffle mustard. For now I will have to settle for tried and true old favourites and dream of blue cheese mustard vinaigrette and truffle dijon on a grilled cheese. 

I make a couple versions of pork with a creamy mustard pan sauce in our regular dinner rotation. Sometimes I cut the tenderloin up and pound it into escalopes, pan fry them and then do a creamy mustard sauce with a bit of finely chopped tomato and basil. My other standby is to sear the pork and roast it and then do an herby sauce in the same pan. I used to leave the mushrooms out because The Kid didn't like them but we have recently discovered that although he doesn't like to EAT the mushrooms, he likes the flavour they impart so I can use them again and he just eats the sauce without the actual 'shrooms which leaves more for me and that's always a good thing. I like to use 2% carnation milk in place of cream because it's healthier and it doesn't really affect the taste but if you don't care about such things, feel free to replace it with cream.  It's all about the mustard and the mushrooms anyway.

I served this with this green bean salad I saw on the nytimes website and it was a great choice. It was nice and tangy and acidic and the perfect foil to the rich, creamy pork. I ate the leftover vinaigrette on a bowl of arugula salad the next day and it was amazing. I will be buying over ripe tomatoes just to make this stuff all the time now.

This recipe is not reinventing the wheel, it's a solid, tasty weeknight standard in this house - it's total comfort food. My favourite part is eating the leftover mushroom mustard cream sauce the next day on a bowl of basmati rice for lunch as my reward for feeding these hooligans.

So yeah, I got some free mustard from Maille and my love for Maille mustard is strong and true so my opinions are my own, yadda yadda yadda.

Pork with Mustard Mushroom Pan Sauce

serves 4

2 pork tenderloins
2 tbls olive oil
kosher salt
black pepper
1 tbls each of fresh thyme, parsely, oregano and rosemary
drizzle olive oil
2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups sliced brown button mushrooms
1 cup shitake sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups sliced oyster mushrooms
kosher salt
1/4 cup white wine
2 tbls Maille old style whole grain mustard1.5 cup chicken stock
4 or 5 stalks of fresh thyme
1/2 cup carnation 2% milk

rub the pork tenderloins with 1 tbls olive oil, the fresh herbs and a pinch of kosher salt and a grind or two of black pepper and set aside to come to room temp.

Preheat the oven to 425F

Heat the second tbls olive oil in a heavy, oven proof pan. brown the tenderloins on all sides and then pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the inner temp is about 140F. Take the pork out of the oven and put the tenderloins on a platter, letting them rest while you make the sauce.

In the same pan that you roasted the pork, add a drizzle of olive oil and throw in the shallot and the garlic and saute until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the brown button mushrooms and brown them in the pan for a few minutes, until you see them taking on some nice colour. Add in the shitakes, stir them around and saute for another minute or so before adding in the oyster mushrooms. After a couple of minutes, add in the white wine and deglaze the pan for a couple of minutes. Mix in the grainy mustard. Add in the chicken stock and the stalks of fresh thyme and let it simmer rapidly for about 3 or 4 minutes. Lastly, throw in the carnation milk and let it simmer rapidly for about 2 minutes before removing it from the heat.
To serve, slice the pork and pour the mushroom sauce over the top.

Green and Yellow Beans in Tomato Vinaigrette

adapted from NYTimes

1 big handful green beans, cleaned and ends trimmed
1 big handful of yellow beans, cleaned and ends trimmed
1 big, super ripe tomato
1 tbls red wine vinegar
pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated
about 2 tbls chopped basil
about 3 tbls toasted almond slices

Par boil the beans in salted, boiling water for about 2 minutes before removing them to a bowl of ice water to shock them and avoid overcooking. When they are totally cooled off, remove them and dry them off thoroughly.

Cut the tomato in half and squeeze out the seeds using your fingers to make sure you get them all. Grate the tomato on a large hole grater right down to the skin. The skin will protect your fingers and won't grate so it makes it easier than you think. Put the tomato pulp in a bowl and throw in a pinch of kosher salt, garlic and the vinegar. Whisk in the olive oil and taste and add more salt if needed.

Put the beans in a bowl and add just enough vinaigrette to coat them after you give them a thorough toss and let them sit for at least an hour and up to 4 or 5 hours before serving. Add the basil and almonds just before you serve them, giving them one last toss.