This is a simple recipe (lots of small steps, don't be intimidated, I just like to break things down into their simplest possible components) where the end results look really impressive.
Gravy is one of those things that takes literally no time (the meat has to rest anyhow) and makes people think you slaved over the stove. This is great for serving to people you want to date, parents of people you are dating, or people you need something from. This is not great for dispelling accusations of false modesty because no one believes that it is simple to make.

HERBED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH GRAVY

• 2lb pork tenderloin, de-boned, and tied nicely (you can -and should!- get the butcher to do this for you
• 1/2 c. salted butter.
• 1 tbl dried thyme
• 1 tbl dried rosemary
• 1 generous tbl whole black peppercorns
• 1 generous tsp salt (smoked salt if you have it)
• 1 c chicken stock
• 1/3 c. dry sherry (or, in an emergency, white wine)
• 2 tbl flour

Preheat the oven to 425F

Take all the spices and run them through a spice grinder until they are uniform in size

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and, when it starts to foam, add the spices

Rub the tenderloin with the spice/butter mixture until it is well covered on all sides and place it in a roasting pan. Ideally the roast would be elevated from the bottom of the pan by a low rack but this is optional

Roast the tenderloin for ~22-28 minutes per pound. I prefer my pork on the pink and moist side so I cook it closer to the lower time frame. The important caveat is that I know where my pork comes from, can see the pigs running around being healthy, and can watch them being cleanly and humanely slaughtered. If all of this is not true for the meat you consume, you should WITHOUT FAIL cook pork until it is 160F in the center. This is closer to the 28 min/lb time and will result in some dry pieces towards each end of the tenderloin.

Let the roast rest for 10 minutes out of the oven. The meat will continue cooking during this time. Why do we let the meat rest? I'm so glad you asked! Ovens are unkind to meat and force juices along the path of least resistance in the meat resulting in pockets of dryness and pockets of sogginess. When we let roasts rest, the heat evens out, the pressure within the meat diminishes, and the fibers are able to hold more water. The juices in the meat distribute themselves more evenly and it makes for a more evenly juicy roast.

While the roast is resting, scrape all the pan juices into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. If you happen to still have the one from melting the butter, great! If you already washed that pan, that is fine too.

Add the chicken stock and the sherry to the pan juices and bring to a simmer

Put the flour into a small bowl and add one tablespoon of the boiling mixture to the flour and stir until evenly distributed.

Continue adding tablespoons of liquid to the flour mixture and stirring until well combined after each addition

When you have a brown soup the consistency of chowder in the small bowl, add that mixture to the simmering pan juice/sherry/stock mixture, turn up the heat, and cook a few minutes more until well combined and somewhat reduced.

Remove the strings from the roast and slice into ~1/2-1 inch thick sections, place on serving platter, and allow guests to add gravy to taste. This fast and easy gravy does not make enough to make a good presentation in a gravy boat so consider serving from a small pitcher

Loosely adapted from James Beard and The Joy of Cooking