Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Pork Tenderloin with Pears

It's time to look at another recipe from the latest issue of Bon Appetit...
IMG_0163_2
This is one of those dishes that looks pretty fancy on the plate but really doesn't take much time to make at all. It does though take longer that the recipe calls for, actually twice as much. I feel like perhaps something was missing in the writing of the recipe, I don't see how a tenderloin could be cooked in only 10 minutes our took 20 to reach 145 F (& yes, our oven temp was correct). Then it called for an oven-proof skillet yet the skillet never goes in the oven, strange.

Anyway, the final result was really good & I liked the used of pears instead of the typical apple & pork combination. It feels very seasonal. My one complaint was that I didn't care for the texture of the pear skin, perhaps my pears were a little overripe. It didn't bother Matt at all though & he loved this dish. The sauce was very good & we liked the pear flavor though we wish we could find pear nectar that wasn't mostly water & high fructose corn syrup.

Pork Tenderloin with Pears
(adapted from Bon Appetit Jan '10)

1 1/2 T olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 t fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 - 3/4 lb pork tenderloin
2 large shallots, peeled & quartered
2 pears, unpeeled, quartered & cored
3 t salted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 t all-purpose flour
1 c chicken broth
1/2 c pear nectar

Preheat the oven to 475 F.

Mix the olive oil, garlic & thyme together. Smear it all over the pork, shallots & pears.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork & shallots. Brown the pork on all sides. Remove the shallots dish & set aside. Put the pork into a baking dish & into the oven. Do not wash the skillet. Roast the pork until 145 F, about 20 minutes. Let rest a few minutes before slicing.

Meanwhile, put the pears into the skillet used to cook the pork over medium-high heat. Cook until brown on the cut side. Remove from the skillet, tent to keep warm & set aside.

Mix the butter & flour together. Add the chicken broth, pear nectar & butter/flour mixture to the same skillet. Bring to a boil, scraping up any bits stuck to the bottom. Boil until thickened.

Slice the pork. Put on a place with the pears (if the pears have gotten cold you may want to heat them in the sauce briefly) & shallots. Top with the pan sauce.

2 - 3 Servings

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2010 Kathy Lewinski

12 comments:

George Gaston said...

kat, the sweetness of the pears & shallots are a great complement to pork.

Over the years, I, too, have found that some printed recipes are missing steps. Just goes to show that all recipes are not tested before published. But it looks like you adjusted it and got excellent results. Great job....

Anonymous said...

OMG it looks so yummy. I'll have to try it. Thanks for posting the recipe :)

Unknown said...

I agree - I too have found that they always underestimate how long it takes to cook pork tenderloin. For us it takes 15-20 mins in the oven after searing.

Michelle said...

We love pork loin with a fruit sauce and with pears this sounds just wonderful.

I've had some problems with Bon Appetit recipes too. I did bake many of the their Christmas Cookie Recipes this year and had problems with at least half the recipes. For me cookies are a slam dunk but with the Bon Appetit recipes..never again!

Tangled Noodle said...

Pears instead of the usual apples sound wonderful! This whole dish looks scrumptious.

The issue with recipes that seem to be missing steps is the kind of thing that makes me doubt myself as a cook - it never occurs to me that it's the recipe, not me, that's missing something!

grace said...

although i stubbornly doubt that anything can top the pork-apple combination, the thought of pear nectar is pretty intriguing. oh, i'd give this a try. most definitely.

Lo said...

Pears and pork sound like they'd be great together.

I'm quite sure that this sort of recipe trouble is what first inspired me to start ad-libbing most things. So many recipes need a little bit of adjustment to really turn out right. Glad to see you had good luck with this one.

Peter M said...

I know pork and fruit are a delicious pairing but I never thought of pears...sounds delish.

Deborah said...

Now I'm thinking I need to subscribe to Bon Appetit!

Alicia Foodycat said...

It sounds wonderful! And as you say, it looks very fancy on the plate. Maybe next time buy an extra pear, run it through the blender and use that instead of the pear nectar?

Ashley said...

I find pork tenderloin takes a little longer than a lot of recipes say to cook, too. This one looks fantastic! Thanks for the review :)

oak dining table said...

This is way too delicious! I like it so much. I have been making it constantly since you posted this.

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