YUMMM!! This is one of my favorite pork recipes to make! The first time I ever made this dish, it turned out perfectly! This time though, not so much. I had the heat up too high for as thick of pieces of pork as I was using (because I used cuts instead of a tenderloin), and I forgot to reduce the vinegar enough, etc etc. But that’s what I like about cooking (as opposed to baking) – you can mess a few things up, and it can still turn out delicious, as this did! And I mean, hey, everyone has their off days!
Sage and Pecan Crusted Pork Tenderloin Cutlets w/Blackberry-Reduction Sauce
What you need:
- 1 cup red wine vinegar
- 5 tablespoons seedless blackberry preserves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pound pork tenderloin
- 3/4 cup fine, dry breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
- 2 teaspoons rubbed sage
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
- Fresh spinach leaves (optional)
- Garnish: fresh blackberries
Directions:
1. Bring vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 6 minutes or until reduced by half. Stir in blackberry preserves, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in salt.
This is the step that I most fumbled in, and resulted in the greatest change in the overall flavor. I boiled and then cooked the vinegar for six minutes, however, I forgot the whole “reduced by half” part. It most definitely was not reduced by half when I added everything else. I tried to add more preserves to compensate, but I couldn’t seem to add enough, and so there was a slightly stronger vinegar smell and taste to the sauce than there ever should have been. For me, this was not a terrible problem, but for my husband who hates vinegar, it was. He still enjoyed the dish, but after having to eat it for a few days, he was more than pleased to see it gone. The first time I made this, I reduced the vinegar by half, if not more, and the sauce was very fruity (yet still dry), as it should have been. Better to over-reduce than to not reduce enough in the case of this recipe, I’d say!
2. Remove silver skin from pork tenderloin, leaving a thin layer of fat covering meat. Cut pork into 8 slices. Place pork between 2 sheets of plastic wrap, and flatten to a 1/4-inch thickness, using a rolling pin or flat side of a meat mallet.
Again, I would stress the importance of that thinness, especially if you are like me: paranoid of under-cooking your meat. With pork being as dangerous as it is when undercooked, I tend to prefer it a little overdone, if I have to. Generally I manage to get it just right, but this time, my cuts weren’t thin enough (and I too lazy to flatten them), so the coating definitely browned way before the meat was anywhere near done, even though I had the heat down pretty low.
3. Stir together breadcrumbs, pecans, and sage in a shallow bowl.
4. Dredge pork in breadcrumb mixture, dip in beaten eggs, and dredge again in breadcrumb mixture.
5. Cook 4 pork slices in 2 tsp. hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat 8 minutes or until done, turning every 2 minutes. Repeat procedure with remaining pork and oil. Serve pork over fresh spinach, if desired. Drizzle with vinegar mixture; garnish, if desired.
Despite my mishaps, it managed to turn out alright. Though the coating was quite brown (as you can probably see in the picture), I managed to salvage it by turning the heat down even lower, and cooking them for what seemed like forever, managing to avoid any burned taste. So I guess, overall, a bit of a more complicated recipe that, when completed accordingly, is absolutely fabulous!
Oh, and I suggest serving this oover a bread of fresh spinach. It is a fabulous compliment, as the sauce ends up doubling as a dressing!
Nutrition:
- Calories: 452
- Fat: 22.4g
- Saturated fat: 3.9g
- Monounsaturated fat: 11.1g
- Polyunsaturated fat: 4.4g
- Protein: 29.6g
- Carbohydrate: 33.6g
- Fiber: 2.5g
- Cholesterol: 171mg
- Iron: 3mg
- Sodium: 516mg
- Calcium: 68mg
Robson Ragoûter 