I was at our weekly cooking class last Friday and it was a demonstration by the owner of a company which produces cooking sauces using native Australian foods. The company is called Wild-Foods and the name on the jars is “Eat Me I’m Wild.” She wants to encourage everyone to use native ingredients.
As I was leaving, Martina from Le’Petit Gourmet gave me a recipe card for pork tenderloin with wattle seed cream sauce. Le’Petit imports gourmet food to our region and also promotes local producers. I thought, “what the heck, I’ll buy some Oz Tukka wattle seeds and lemon myrtle and give it a try.” I got home and put the jars away and promptly forgot. I was at the butcher today and saw pork tenderloin that looked really good and remembered the recipe card. Dinner done.
Have you ever cooked something that tasted so good you wanted to cook it again even though you were full? That’s what this dish was. Not only that, it photographed like crap. I so wanted it to look good because it tasted absolutely heavenly.
See what I mean? Looks like something the cat dragged in, doesn’t it? Well, let me tell you it tasted like joy on a fork. It was simple as can be to make too. Cut an onion into wedges, slice a few mushrooms and sauté til soft and then slice the tenderloin into steaks and brown in a hot skillet.
Transfer the pork to an ovenproof dish, add the onions and mushrooms on top. Mix the cream with salt, pepper, wattle seeds and lemon myrtle and pour over the pork, onions and mushrooms.
Wattle seeds are native to Australia and they add a nutty, chicory flavor to dishes. Wattle seeds have been used by the Aboriginal tribes by grinding them into flour. Real bush tucker! I’ve lived in Australia for a long time but this was the first time I’d tried cooking with them.
When I first stuck my nose over the jar I wasn’t too sure but once I put the first forkful in my mouth I was convinced. No wonder the Oz Tukka company passes this recipe out with their wattle seeds. Lemon myrtle is like having powdered lemon in a jar. Yum.
Bake at 200°C or 400°F for 20 minutes and that’s it. I tell ya it’s that easy. I only cooked one tenderloin for the two of us and usually there’s plenty left over for the dog. Poor Charlie didn’t get a look-see tonight.
- 2 whole pork fillets (trimmed) sliced into inch and a quarter slices
- 3 large or 5 small mushrooms sliced
- 2 onions cut into wedges
- 1 cup cream
- 2 tsp wattle seeds
- ¼ tsp lemon myrtle
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Sauté onions and mushrooms until soft
- Sear tenderloin steaks in a hot pan and sprinkle with pepper
- Transfer pork to an ovenproof dish and add onions and mushrooms
- Mix cream salt, wattle seeds and lemon myrtle together and pour over pork, mushrooms and onions
- Bake in 200°C (400°F) oven for 20 minutes