Juicy, pink, tender roasted pork filet with a wonderful honey-thyme aroma. This dish is extremely fast and easy to make, has surprisingly few ingredients, but tastes absolutely scrumptious, which in my book makes it a perfect dish.
The thyme and honey work so well together, with the sweetness of the honey being perfectly offset by the thyme, seasoning, stock and the pork, leaving just the right balance of flavours in the dish. You would be surprised by how little sweetness is actually left at the end, versus the beautiful taste and aroma that develops during the short cooking time.
The first time I made this dish, I had no thyme honey, so made it with regular honey and added a little more fresh thyme leaves instead. Meanwhile I bought thyme honey but I think I was more intrigued to taste it, rather than felt the need to buy it to improve the dish. The honey is lovely and I think it needs to be
Did we spot the difference to regular honey in the dish? Blame our maybe undeveloped taste buds, but we think not. With this amount of fresh thyme, I think regular honey works just fine, so don't worry if you can't get hold of thyme honey, but make sure to use good quality, tasty, regular honey instead.
Recipe source: 'Honey-Thyme Roasted Pork Loin', by Kerry Saretsky, French Revolution Blog
Serves 2:
App. 400g pork filet (tenderloin), preferably a piece of even thickness
Salt
Freshly milled black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, taken off the stems and roughly chopped
60ml (¼ cup) thyme (or lavender) honey (or regular honey and a little more fresh thyme)
60ml (¼ cup) chicken stock (can be made with stock cube)
Preheat the oven to 190C/170Fan/375F. Line a small rimmed baking dish with aluminium foil, then oil lightly. Take the pork out of the fridge approx. 15 minutes before you want to use it. Remove any sinew and fat, then pat dry with a paper towel. Season liberally on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the pork to the pan and sear it for 3 minutes on all four sides until golden brown, 12 minutes in total.
While the pork is searing, mix together the thyme, honey and soft butter until completely incorporated. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Remove the pork from the pan and put it into the prepared baking dish. Deglaze the pan: add the chicken stock to the pan, then scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Keep this pan sauce for later.
Rub the thyme-honey-butter all over the outside of the seared pork. Use a spoon to pour any off the mixture that runs off the meat back on top of the pork.
Pour the pan sauce into the baking dish next to the pork (not over the pork!).
Roast the pork in the pre-heated oven for app. 10-12 minutes until the internal temperature reads 63C/145F. To measure the temperature, insert a food thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the filet.
When cooked, take the pork out of the oven, cover with aluminium foil (make s small hole on top to vent it) and allow it to rest for app. 10 minutes. During this time the pork will continue to cook and increase its temperature by another 5-10°C.
Slice the meat into medallions and serve with the pan sauce and a few extra sprigs of fresh thyme as decoration. Goes well with MINI HERBED POMMES ANNA (see photo), GRATIN DAUPHINOIS, or HASSELBACK POTATOES.
TIPS:
- The original recipe asks for 1 ¼ (650g) pork filet. It did not state the amount of chicken stock to be used, i.e. ¼ cup or ¼ litre. I have made it with 400g filet, and added ¼ cup = 60ml chicken stock to deglaze the pan. All other ingredients I used according to the original recipe. This quantity makes 2 portions with a relatively small amount of sticky, caramelised sauce. Maybe if making a larger amount of meat, ¼l of stock should be used, but I have not tried this yet and don't know to what extend that will thin the sauce.
- Make sure to sear the meat well. This adds colour and flavour, but also the 'burnt on bits' will make a nice pan sauce.
- Leave the filet to rest sufficiently after roasting and before cutting. This gives the juices that have bubbled to the surface a chance to sink back into the meat, keeping it moist, and avoiding that they run out when the meat is cut.
- If not using a whole filet, try to buy or cut a piece of even thickness, as thinner ends tend to cook faster and therefore tend to dry out more than the thicker centre. In case you end up with a thinner end, fold it under and tie it together with string.
- I use a food thermometer. It is a really good investment as you can be sure to cook your meats safely without overcooking and drying them out. In my opinion, the best are those digital in-oven thermometers with long heat-resistant silicon or wire cables, connecting the prove to the reader. The prove can be inserted and left inside the meat during the whole cooking process, while the reader sits on the counter top. Most of them come with an alarm and pre-set temperature settings for different meats and temperature scales for doneness, inline with food safety regulations. We use ours for most meats, poultry, fish, but it's also a great aid for anything baked in salt crust.
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HONEY-THYME ROASTED PORK FILET
Serves 2:
App. 400g pork filet (tenderloin), preferably a piece of even thickness
Salt
Freshly milled black pepper
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves, taken off the stems and roughly chopped
60ml (¼ cup) thyme (or lavender) honey (or regular honey and a little more fresh thyme)
60ml (¼ cup) chicken stock (can be made with stock cube)
1) Preheat the oven to 190C/170Fan/375F.
2) Line a small rimmed baking dish with aluminium foil, then oil lightly.
3) Bring the pork to room temperature: Take the pork out of the fridge approx. 15 minutes before you want to use it.
4) Season the pork: Remove any sinew and fat, then pat dry with a paper towel. Season the pork filet liberally on all sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5) Sear the filet: Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil. When the oil starts to shimmer, add the pork to the pan and sear it for 3 minutes on all four sides until golden brown, 12 minutes in total.
6) Prepare the honey-topping: While the pork is searing, mix together the thyme, honey and soft butter until completely incorporated. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Remove the pork from the pan and put it into the prepared baking dish.
7) Deglaze the pan: Deglaze the pan: add the chicken stock to the pan, then scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Keep this pan sauce for later.
8) Spoon the honey-topping on top of the pork: Rub the thyme-honey-butter all over the outside of the seared pork. Use a spoon to pour any off the mixture that runs off the meat back on top of the pork.
9) Add the pan sauce to the dish: Pour the pan sauce into the baking dish next to the pork (not over the pork!).
10) Roast the pork: Roast the pork in the pre-heated oven for app. 10-12 minutes until the internal temperature reads 63C/145F. To measure the temperature, insert a food thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the filet.
11) Leave to rest: When cooked, remove the pork from of the oven, cover with aluminium foil (make s small hole on top to vent it) and allow it to rest for app. 10 minutes. During this time the pork will continue to cook and increase its temperature by another 5-10°C.
12) Serve: Slice the meat into medallions and serve with the pan sauce and a few extra sprigs of fresh thyme as decoration. Goes well with MINI HERBED POMMES ANNA (see photo), GRATIN DAUPHINOIS, or HASSELBACK POTATOES.
TIPS:
- The original recipe asks for 1 ¼ (650g) pork filet. It did not state the amount of chicken stock to be used, i.e. ¼ cup or ¼ litre. I have made it with 400g filet, and added ¼ cup = 60ml chicken stock to deglaze the pan. All other ingredients I used according to the original recipe. This quantity makes 2 portions with a relatively small amount of sticky, caramelised sauce. Maybe if making a larger amount of meat, ¼l of stock should be used, but I have not tried this yet and don't know to what extend that will thin the sauce.
- Make sure to sear the meat well. This adds colour and flavour, but also the 'burnt on bits' will make a nice pan sauce.
- Leave the filet to rest sufficiently after roasting and before cutting. This gives the juices that have bubbled to the surface a chance to sink back into the meat, keeping it moist, and avoiding that they run out when the meat is cut.
- If not using a whole filet, try to buy or cut a piece of even thickness, as thinner ends tend to cook faster and therefore tend to dry out more than the thicker centre. In case you end up with a thinner end, fold it under and tie it together with string.
- I use a food thermometer. It is a really good investment as you can be sure to cook your meats safely without overcooking and drying them out. In my opinion, the best are those digital in-oven thermometers with long heat-resistant silicon or wire cables, connecting the prove to the reader. The prove can be inserted and left inside the meat during the whole cooking process, while the reader sits on the counter top. Most of them come with an alarm and pre-set temperature settings for different meats and temperature scales for doneness, inline with food safety regulations. We use ours for most meats, poultry, fish, but it's also a great aid for anything baked in salt crust.
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