Cooking - Pork Tenderloin with Fruit Sauce

Our search engine optimization and all round web guru team of Peltier Effects sent us this recipe recently. I made it twice - always the skeptic!- and am giving you Jeffrey and Heidi's original recipe with a couple of side notes of my own. For the record, it was enthusiastically received at family diner here two nights in a row.




First time around I used dry sherry (when I finally found the Calvados in the back of a cupboard I couldn't get the top off it had been stashed for so long) - consensus here is that it has more "zip" with Calvados. Round one I used the exact amounts of fruit and pine nuts specified in the recipe. Second iteration I cut back fruit to 1.5 cups and pine nuts to 1/4 cup. The verdict: - second sauce was better - maybe it was the Calvados! Each night I served it with wilted spinach (my favorite way to cook spinach - scroll to bottom for recipe) and creamed yams - my family are very tolerant. First night I used two pork tenderloins and served five . Second night I used three tenderloins and served seven with lots of leftovers. When I increased the amount of meat I still had sauce left over - yummy as a chutney on the cold pork.
I cooked the pork on the Evo gas grill with the lid on. I think you can easily BBQ this cut without drying it out.

For 4-6 you will need

• 2 or more trimmed pork tenderloins ~ 1llb each
• a little olive oil
• sea salt and coarse ground black pepper

• Prep the pork by rinsing it, patting it dry, rolling in a little olive oil and sprinkling with salt and pepper.
• Pre- heat an oven to 375F or pre-heat BBQ

• Roast for uncovered for about 30 minutes - check skinny looking tenderloins at at 25 minutes. You want the meat to be pale blush pink at the thickest part.

While the meat is roasting prep and cook the sauce.
You will need

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Cups or less dried mixed fruit - pears, apricots, plums aka prunes, apples, figs, dried cherries
  
• 4 oz (1/2 Cup) or less pine nuts
• 5 cloves crushed garlic
• zest and juice from one each orange and lime
• 1/2 Cup Calvados
• 1 Cup chicken stock

• Warm the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic, nuts and fruit. Cook until nuts and fruit begin to brown. Add the citrus juice, zest and Calvados. Cook down until syrupy. Add chicken stock and cook at high heat until reduced to a thick sauce.
  

Let the pork rest while you finish up the sauce. Cut into 1" thick slices, top with sauce. Cold sauce and leftover pork great for next day!

Wilted Spinach

• A very large handful of baby spinach for each serving.
• splash of olive oil
• either juice of half a lemon or 1TBS of diced preserved lemon

Over medium heat warm the oil in a large, shallow pan with tight fitting lid. Rinse the spinach under cold running water, shake off excess water but do NOT dry. Drop into the pan, squeeze in lemon juice or add the preserved lemon, sprinkle with a little sea salt (NO salt if you use the preserved lemon) and coarse ground black pepper. Put the lid on the pan- turn heat to low. After three minutes open and stir - spinach should be wilting. Put the lid back on and turn off heat. leave about three more minutes on cooling burner.

If you are enjoying following this blog and our primary website, http://www.connectionsforwomen.com, please help us continue by supporting our affiliates and advertisers. Click through the ads to see what they have to offer.