Pork Tenderloin with Pears and Shallots

It's been a while since I've tried anything really outside of my normal realm of cooking. I've been sticking with the safe, comfort food type stuff lately.

Tonight, I decided to take something I know how to cook pretty well, pork tenderloin, and do it in a different way.When I first saw this recipe, I was intrigued, as it involved a few things that I wasn't really good at... like making a gravy-like sauce. Also, typically when you're making something with a bunch of thyme, it's usually chicken. So, using it with pork sounded awesome.

So, here's what you'll need:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme plus fresh thyme sprigs for garnish
• 1 1-1/4-pound pork tenderloin
• 3 large shallots, each cut into 6 wedges through stem end, peeled
• 3 unpeeled small Bosc or Anjou pears, quartered, cored
• 4 teaspoons butter, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups low-salt chicken broth
• 3/4 cup pear nectar 

 One of the things that takes the most time is getting the thyme ready. You want to remove the leaves from the stems for the most part, but you also want to leave a few pieces in tact for cooking the pork in the oven, and a few end springs for garnish.

  Basically, this is what you're going for... Top left: stems; top right: longer, in-tact sprigs for oven; bottom right: end sprigs for garnish; bottom left: leaves only.

Once you have that done, preheat your oven to 475. Then, prep everything else.

Mix your thyme leaves with your minced garlic, add 3 TBSP of olive oil and set aside.

 

Now, prep your shallots and pears.

Shallots get cut into either quarters or into 6 wedges, lengthwise.

 

Pears get about the same treatment.

I used a mix of pears just for a bit of variation. Note: This time of year, all of the pears you find will be shitty.

Now, take your oil/garlic/thyme mix, coat the pork with some, coat the pears, and coat the shallots.

 

For the pears and shallots, it's hard to beat the old shake and bake method... toss them in a bag, toss in some of the oil/garlic/thyme, and shake it like a rusty paint mixer.

Now, it's about time to actually start cooking. Once you start, you have to pretty much keep continuous motion, so make sure that the ingredients you'll need soon are close-by.

First up, get a large-ish non-stick pan going on about medium heat.

Dump in your shallots on one side, and your pork on the other.

You're looking to brown your pork on all sides, and you want to get your shallots a bit browned as well... 

Above is the first flip. Toss the shallots around, and while those things are getting browned, go ahead and get everything else ready.

A note on the pear nectar... you can find the stuff in big bottles in your fancier grocery stores, and they'll probably want about $9.00 for a quart of it.... Or, you can hit the Mexican section of your favorite supermarket and find pear nectar in a can for about $1.00. Since you only need 3/4 of a cup, one 12oz can is good for two batches. After measuring out my pear nectar, I added the cup and a half of chicken stock on top. (For those keeping track, 3/4 Cup + 1-1/2 Cups = 2-1/4 cups.)

So, after your pork is browned on all sides, and the shallots are browned up nicely, pull those out of the pan and put them in a oven safe dish.

Wrap your longer springs of thyme around the pork before you toss it into the oven. Set the timer for 10-15 minutes depending on how think your tenderloin is. Mine took right about 12 minutes tonight.

Meanwhile, with that removed from the pan on the stovetop, toss your pears in.

You're just looking to get a little char / brown these up a little bit. The heat will sweeten them up, and soften them up a little bit, so if it's the end of February, and your local produce is awful... this will help a bit.

 Once your pears are nicely browned, pull them out of the pan (they may be a little hard to get out, as they softened up).

 

Now, you have a bunch of awesomeness left in the pan.

 

We've still got the pan on medium heat.... Pour in your chicken stock/pear nectar.

All of that steaming and whatnot is the look of awesome. You're deglazing all of that business from the pan, and it will become a magical part of your sauce that you're about to start working on.

After you've got all of the chicken stock / pear nectar in and heated up a bit, add your butter and flour. This is where things get fun. You're basically making a roux, so you're going to spend the next 10-15 minutes whisking and trying to get out the tiny pockets of un-incorporated flour mixed in. So, have fun with that. 

About the time that you get the last pockets of flour mixed in, your timer will go off for the pork. Pull it out of the oven and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

 

If your sauce is thick, and your meat is resting...  pour yourself a drink. You deserve it....

After resting, cut the pork into 3/4" thick medallions, and plate with the pears and shallots. Put gravy over everything, or just over the pork, or whatever floats your boat. garnish with the remaining sprigs of thyme, and chow down.

This was surprisingly awesome. The pork was tender and juicy, the pears were sweet, but almost starch-like.... They took place of ... say.... potatoes. The shallots were amazing as well, with a bit of char from the pan, and a bit of sweetness. The only downside of the meal is that it's a bit monochromatic. We had ours with some kale and golden raisins, so that provided a bit of contrast, but maintained the sweet fruit theme.

My .02: Make it. It's not the most traditional meal, but it's surprisingly light on the palate, while still being filling. Plus, it's pretty impressive on a plate. If you're having guests over for dinner, you're pretty much guaranteed to deliver something that they don't eat once a week at home, and something that the local restaurants aren't making.