I have no sort of witty repartee to precede this recipe, as I am nearing the end of my list of recipes I've made so far, and my cup of Ethiopian expired long ago. So, here it is.
Pork Tenderloin with Rosemary and Applesauce
3 large Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
One 1-inch piece fresh ginger - peeled, thickly sliced and lightly smashed
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Two 3/4-pound pork tenderloins, cut into 1-1/2 inch medallions and flattened slightly
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 rosemary sprig....
Preparation:
1. In a saucepan, combine the apples, wine, water, sugar, ginger, cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of the butter and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over moderately low heat, stirring, until the apples are tender, about 12 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, until the liquid is nearly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Discard the ginger and cinnamon.
2. In a skillet, heat the oil until shimmering. Season the pork medallions with salt and pepper. Add them to the skillet and cook over high heat, turning once, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm.
3. Return the skillet to high heat and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and the rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the rosemary browns and the butter is fragrant, about 2 minutes. Discard the rosemary sprig. Spoon the applesauce onto plates and top with the pork. Spoon the rosemary butter over the top and serve.
Okay. I liked this recipe but I didn't like the way it was worded. There were a lot of things that tripped me up, even though the end result was alright. First: the ginger. I am not overly familiar with ginger as an ingredient, so telling me to get a one-inch piece of ginger really didn't mean much to me. There weren't any pieces of ginger available at the store that were only one inch big. I wasn't sure if it meant one inch length or one inch width. I just hacked off a chunk of ginger that looked like it might be enough, compared to the apples.
Slightly crushed? What does that MEAN! It is either crushed, or it's not. I believe I crushed them with enough slightness but upon crushing, it was harder to tell the difference between the ginger and the apples. Had I known that I would need to remove the ginger, I would have made sure that it did not resemble an apple slice whatsoever. I ended up getting a piece of ginger on my plate... that was a bit of a shocker.
The recipe also calls for the rosemary to be broken into 1-inch pieces. I did this the first time through, using the pork skillet (with all the olive oil still left in it...? Gross). Then I found it immensely difficult to remove the rosemary as requested, and was confused because when the rosemary is to be removed, the recipe makes it out to be one whole sprig as opposed to one broken into a bunch of pieces.
I ended up re-making the rosemary butter in a separate, clean, un-olive-oiled pan. There was a bunch of junk in there from the pork and it resulted in a murky, gross-looking mess that I decided I would not like to have on my food. I actually was missing the rosemary flavor even with the butter. I wished that the flavors of the apple, pork and rosemary could have been more integrated, but they were not at all. Next time I might add rosemary to the applesauce while I am making it - that would add a bit more complexity to the dish and would complement the pork really well. Maybe even adding rosemary to the pork skillet would be a nice touch.
The dish was good, and edible, and all, but would have benefited from a few tweaks to the recipe
Newb: 9 Food: 2
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