TENDERLOIN IN RED WINE RAGU WITH ROASTED MUSHROOMS & POTATOES

We all love the question: “so mom, what’s for dinner tonight”, right?. Most mornings at 7 a.m. I have no idea what I am going to make that particular night. As a true European, I shop daily and figure it out between the grocery store aisles, but I am always on the lookout for new recipes on the web as well, and this particular recipe I came across on a popular Hungarian site called Street Kitchen. Red wine sauce immediately sounded delicious so with some modifications to fit our taste and satisfy my picky eater, here is what I made for dinner last night!

Ingredients for 2:

• 1 lb of potatoes

• 8 oz of mushrooms, washed and quartered

• 1 pork tenderloin or a few pieces of chicken tenders cut into strips (I used chicken tenderloins)

• 1 small onion chopped

• 2-4 cloves of garlic chopped

• extra virgin olive oil

• 1 tbsp of tomato paste

• 1/2 cup of red wine

• 3/4 cup of vegetable or chicken broth or water

• handful of fresh parsley finely chopped

• couple of tbsps of butter, cold

• salt & pepper to season

First in a large pot boil the potatoes in water with skin on until tender but not too soft. Drain and peel potatoes, cut them into bite size pieces. Set aside.

In a nonstick pan, on medium heat cook mushrooms without any oil or salt until nicely browned. Place mushrooms on a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet, add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and start roasting your potatoes on medium to high heat. Season it with salt and pepper and gently mix it to roast all sides until nicely crispy on the outside. Scoop potatoes out into a separate dish and set aside.

Again, using the same nonstick pan, add a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and cook your meat through, for about 5-8 minutes or until nicely browned on all sides, season it with salt and pepper while cooking. Place meat on same dish with mushrooms.

You know the drill by now, same skillet but no need to add any oil, you should have enough left from cooking the meat. Add the chopped onions, cook for about 2-3 minutes and add chopped garlic. You can also use a garlic crusher instead of chopping.

Add the tomato paste, mix well and add the red wine. Bring it to boil, turn the heat down and let the alcohol evaporate.

Pour in the broth, add the meat and mushroom and let it simmer for few minutes or until liquid reduces, about 3-5 minutes.

Add a couple of tablespoons of cold butter to sauce and incorporate into red wine ragu.

Gently mix in the potatoes and chopped parsley. Heat it through, check seasoning, and voila! You are ready to serve! Enjoy!