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Wild Boar Tenderloin Port Sauce

In this recipe, wild boar tenderloin or pork tenderloin is marinated overnight into a red wine marinade, seared on all sides and served with a sauce made of the marinade and port wine, a scrumptious gourmet recipe to share with friends!

I made this wild boar recipe with young wild boar tenderloin, the taste of the meat is not as strong as it can be with adult boar or game, very similar to pork but tastier and slightly nutty flavored.

Wild boar tenderloin is a very lean cut, it must not be overcooked as it can become very dry and hard to swallow even with lots of sauce, it is generally served medium, the center of the cut must remain slightly pink.

This recipe can also be made with pork tenderloin.

  • Since I used young wild boar tenderloin for this recipe, the tenderloins were rather small. Therefore I used 2 tenderloins weighing a total amount of 1.5 pound (700 g.), the diameter of tenderloins was about 2 1/2 inch thick (6 cm). If your tenderloins are thicker, consider increasing your cooking time. For a standard pork tenderloin, I would go for 5 minutes each searing top and lower side + simmering 20 to 25 minutes.

How is this wild boar tenderloin and Port sauce made:

  • First, I make a marinade made of 1 bottle of red wine, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 3 crushed garlic cloves and spices such as clove, juniper berries, thyme, bay leaves, black peppercorns and I marinate the meat overnight, turning it over every few hours
  • I made the Port wine sauce out of this marinade, I poured the marinade and its ingredients into a high sided pan and cooked to reduce to half, then I filtered it through a fine mesh sieve, added the Port wine, boiled it a minute and finished the sauce by whisking butter in, set aside
  • I pat the meat dry, melted some butter and vegetable oil on high heat, seared the tenderloins 2 minutes per side, reduced the heat to medium, covered the pan with a lid and simmered for 6 minutes, removed the meat from the pan and let rest 5 minutes before slicing
  • I served these tenderloins with a potato casserole made without cheese and a mix of sauteed chanterelle and oyster mushrooms, you can serve it with noodles and green beans for example
  • Serve with your choice of full-bodied red wine like French Bordeaux Haut-Médoc, Italian Nero d’Avola or Spanish Rioja for example.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you do, please leave me a comment and let me know how it went!

  • 3 servings
  • Easy
  • 1 h 00 without resting time

Recipe :

Ingredients:

1.5 pound (700 g.) young boar tenderloin or pork tenderloin

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Marinade:

25 oz. (750 ml) Bordeaux red wine or any full-bodied red wine

1 tbsp. red vinegar

2 carrots, cut in 2 inch long chunks

1 onion, quartered

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 bay leaves

2 sprigs of thyme

5 cloves

10 juniper berries, crushed

15 whole black peppercorns

For the sauce:

1/2 cup (120 ml) Port wine

2 tbsp. water

1 tbsp. corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

2 tbsp. butter

Prepare the marinade:

Into a large baking pan, add all the ingredients for the marinade, arrange the tenderloins and marinate overnight, turning the meat over every 2 or 3 hour

Make the Port wine sauce:

Into a medium saucepan, add the marinade, including all the ingredients, and cook it on medium heat until reduced to half

Filter the marinade through a fine mesh sieve and discard all the vegetables and aromatic herbs

Put the wine back into the saucepan, add the corn starch to the water and stir, pour into the sauce, add the Port to the wine, bring to boil and cook for a minute or two, whisk the butter in into two or three addition, set aside

Cook the tenderloins:

Into a large frying pan, heat the butter and vegetable oil, add the tenderloins, sear two minutes per side, reduce the heat to medium, cover with a lid, simmer for about 6 to 7 minutes, turning them over once, set aside 5 minutes before slicing, if the meat is too rare for your liking, you can always arrange the sliced meat into the still hot pan and let it cook with the residual heat

Re-heat the sauce on medium heat whisking it constantly so the butter won’t split from the wine, pour on top of the meat and serve immediately

Enjoy!