I finally got in a cook - pepper crusted pork

BobS

Finally got in a cook and it hit the spot.

I poached some cracked pepper and coated pork tenderloin slices and wrapped them in apple smoked bacon.

I made a sauce of apricot preserves, Amaretto, and dried cranberries and then sauteed some asparagus.

Susan added an odd salad that we have come to love! It is sliced red cabbage, avocado, and grapes, with a poppy seed dressing.

Not bad for hump day.

"Sparky"

Who cares what it tastes like?It looks awesome :woohoo: Very nice work

JLOCKHART29

Nice cook you did. How do you poach pepper? I love new things!! :woohoo:

bobbyb

Bob,
Looks beautiful!

BobS

JLOCKHART29 wrote:

Nice cook you did. How do you poach pepper? I love new things!! :woohoo:

The idea came from the recipe shown below and I adapted it to pork.

Pepper-Crusted Filet Mignon with Port Cherry Reduction Sauce
Cooks Illustrated

Heating the peppercorns in oil tempers much of their pungent heat, but this recipe is still pretty spicy. If you prefer a very mild pepper flavor, drain the cooled peppercorns in a fine-mesh strainer in step 1, toss them with 5 tablespoons of fresh oil, add the salt, and proceed. Serve with Port Cherry Reduction (see below).



INGREDIENTS

5 tablespoons black peppercorns , cracked
5 tablespoons olive oil , plus 2 teaspoons
1 tablespoon kosher salt
4 center-cut filets mignons , 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, 7 to 8 ounces each, trimmed of fat and silver skin

RMS Comments:
I did this with NY Strip and it was great.
Crack the pepper by spreading it out on a cutting board and pressing with the rounded edge of a heavy skillet. The idea is to break the pepper in 3-4 pieces, not grind it.

1. Heat peppercorns and 5 tablespoons oil in small saucepan over low heat until faint bubbles appear. Continue to cook at bare simmer, swirling pan occasionally, until pepper is fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When mixture is room temperature, add salt and stir to combine. Rub steaks with oil and pepper mixture, thoroughly coating top and bottom of each steak with peppercorns. Cover steaks with plastic wrap and press gently to make sure peppercorns adhere; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

Heating the peppercorns in oil tempers much of their pungent heat, but this recipe is still pretty spicy. If you prefer a very mild pepper flavor, drain the cooled peppercorns in a fine-mesh strainer in step 1, toss them with 5 tablespoons of fresh oil, add the salt, and proceed. Serve with either Port Cherry Reduction

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position, place rimmed baking sheet on oven rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees. Heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until faint smoke appears. Place steaks in skillet and cook, without moving steaks, until dark brown crust has formed, 3 to 4 minutes. Using tongs, turn steaks and cook until well browned on second side, about 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and transfer steaks to hot baking sheet. Roast 3 to 5 minutes for rare, 5 to 7 minutes for medium-rare to medium. Transfer steaks to wire cooling rack and let rest, loosely tented with foil, for 5 minutes before serving.

RMS Comment: I prefer to do this as a reverse sear, starting at 250 F, and slowly bring the internal temp up to about 110 and then finish in the hot grill.

SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups port
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 large shallot , minced fine (about 3 tablespoons)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Table salt

1. Combine first five ingredients in medium saucepan;simmer over medium-low heat until liquid has reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 30 minutes. Set aside, covered.

2. While steaks are resting, reheat sauce. Off heat, remove thyme, then whisk in butter until melted. Season with salt to taste.

RMS Comment: Dried cranberries, dried currents or even raisens can be substituted for cherries. I ended up adding more butter to get the sauce to what I thought was appropriate consistency. The amount depends on taste and how much you reduced the sauce to begin with. Important to whisk in so butter forms an emulsion instead of just melting and separating to oil and sauce.