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Nothing is better than wrapping bacon around pork!

The other day my sister called me very excited. You see, she goes to the butchers every day to get her meat and the vegetable store as well, since she lives close to a tiny village and enjoys marketing in the old style. I would love to do that as well, and in a way I do, but I use the internet to do my browsing and then my Amish dairy club drops my market choices off every other Saturday. Her version is much more idyllic on a daily basis though.

Getting back to her excitement though, she was waiting on line to place her order and she over heard her btcher talking animatedly to his assistant about how great his meal was the night before. He couldn’t believe how tender and juicy the meat had turned out, and he couldn’t believe that he had never tried this before!

My sister was not to be dissuaded and boldly asked the butcher what he was talking about. He glanced around, realizing that the entire line of people were waiting with baited breath to hear what had excited a butcher, a man who could have any cut of meat he wanted, from any type of animal in his case, to give such rave reviews for a meal.

He wiped his brow and let out a little sigh of embarrassment at being caught in his rave review, but then, leaned forward across the wide white counter and almost whispered, “bacon wrapped pork tenderloins.”

My sister paused for a moment at the seeming contradiction there. Bacon was pork, so was tenderloin. Why would you want to add more pork to pork? Well, then of course, it dawned on her! The bacon would add back in the lovely fat and flavor removed when the tenderloin, which is a very lean meat was removed from the pig! A smile of understanding blossomed across her face and she ordered two tenderloins to cook that night, feeling herself lucky to be at the head of the line and not on the end because she knew with all certainty that everyone on that line would want to order some bacon and a tenderloin!

She loved it and so did her entire family and so, she called me to give me the recipe, which I cooked just last night. I will certainly be ordering a few pastured pork tenderloins when the become available from my dairy club!

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4

2 Pork tenderloins, cleaned and stripped of their membrane

1 Pound thinly sliced uncured bacon

1 Tbs. dried sage, crushed

Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wash and pat dry pork tenderloins and place on a flat baking pan with a lip. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Rub pork with a small amount of salt, or less if your bacon is very salty, freshly ground pepper and the crushed sage.

Starting at one end of the tenderloin, wrap bacon around it, mummy style with a small amount of overlap as each slice comes down the meat in a spiral pattern. Cover all areas of the tenderloin with bacon and seal the ends by putting them underneath the meat when laying it on the pan.

Place in the oven with the fat ends of the tenderloins facing the back and bake for at least 25 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 160 Degrees. This may take more or less time depending on the heat of your oven and the thickness of the pork.  The bacon will cook, but will not become overly crispy, so do not use that as a doneness measure.  Allow meat to rest for 5 minutes before slicing it with a sharp knife into 1/2 inch medallions.

I served this dish with home made French Fries, Hot Apple Sauce (as in spicy!) and some Parsnip Confetti from Hunger and Thirst (pictures on Friday, you wont believe how good this is!) that were delicious! I’ll be posting these other recipes shortly. I will be making this again because everyone loved it! I was easy, tender and juicy and the bacon and sage were the perfect compliment for the rather delicate taste of the tenderloin. I also liked that I didn’t have to use a marinade to spice it up or keep it moist. This is definitely one you should try!

This article is a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop-Volume 30, Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesday, Mouthwatering Mondays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tuesday Twister, Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesdays at the Table, Foodie Friday, Momtrends Friday Food and Tasty Tuesday Parade of Food.