Roasted Coffee Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Cream Sauce

Time for February's Improv Cooking Challenge!

The theme for this month is coffee and cream. My first thought was dessert, but I thought it was a little too easy, and I wanted to create a savory dish. We have had a lot of pork tenderloin lately and I thought a coffee crust would be phenomenal on with pan roasted pork and a nice cream sauce. I made the rub with breakfast blend ground coffee, seasoning, a little sugar and herbs. I knew I wanted to get a little booze into my sauce and thought bourbon with a little cream and a little dijon would be amazing. This pork was absolutely delicious! The coffee crust was flavorful and rich. The coffee flavor was actually not very strong, but came out just enough when paired with the cream sauce.  For the cream sauce, I scraped all the flavorful bit from the pan after adding a bit of bourbon to the pan. I removed my pan from the heat prior to adding the bourbon so I didn't get a big flare up because I cook on flame and have a overhead range. Once the booze was well incorporated I whisked in the cream and dijon, and reduced to create a creamy sauce. 

Kellen has been loving pork tenderloin and loved this recipe. He especially loved dipping the pork into the sauce (he loved dipping his green beans too!). Tonight, Ron and I are relaxing and catching up on a few chores and a few shows. I just saw an ad that Survivor starts next week!!!!! I am also really looking forward to The Following starting in two weeks....I can be such a t.v. freak sometimes....

If you want to join the fun of the Improv Cooking Challenge visit Lesa of Edesia's Notebook for details! 

Stay tuned for next month's recipe using Chicken and Noodles!

Ingredients

1 1/2 Tbl ground coffee (I used a breakfast blend)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 Tbl brown sugar

1 pork tenderloin (about a pound)

1/3 cup bourbon 

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 pt heavy cream

Instructions

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.

Mix the coffee, thyme, garlic powder, pepper, brown sugar and salt together in a small bowl. Evenly rub the coffee mixture into the pork tenderloin. 

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in an oven safe skillet. Brown pork tenderloin on all sides.

Place the skillet in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until the pork registers 155-160 degrees. Remove from the oven, tent withh foil to keep warm, and rest for while you prepare the sauce (about 10 min).

With the heat off, add the bourbon and return to medium heat on the stove top. Scrape the cooked bits from the skillet and whisk in the cream and dijon. Allow the sauce to slightly simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes (the sauce should be thick enough to heavily coat a spoon). 

Slice pork tenderloin and spoon sauce over the top. Serve immediately. 

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