Add a dab of peach-orange sauce to that pork
Pork tenderloin with a peach jam and orange juice sauce can be quick and easy. The bowls contain more of the jam sauce as well as peach-cherry salsa from Chukar Cherries, a Washington-based company.
I get tired of chicken, tired of beef, tired of pretty much everything on my mental go-to list for dinners.
But a long time had passed since I had thought about pork. My favorite choice for pork is bun cha ha noi, the delicious dish with noodles, peanuts, cilantro, pork patties and dipping sauce that people buy on the streets of Hanoi, Vietnam. But I have a second choice, not exactly a favorite, but a good alternative for a busy day. It can be done with ease, and we usually have leftovers for sandwiches.
Here’s how it goes: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the tenderloin with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Cook for about 20 minutes, then check the inside to make sure it isn’t red. Slightly pink is OK in my family. I just let the tenderloin rest for about eight minutes so it continues cooking and the pink goes away and it doesn’t get too dry. Next, dribble the sauce over it.
What sauce, you ask? Here are a couple of ideas. Mix about 1/2 cup of peach or apricot jam with about 1/4 cup of orange juice. Split the tenderloin lengthwise, but don’t cut through all the way. Dribble the sauce inside and let the heat from the resting meat raise the temp of the jam mixture.
Or you could heat the sauce in a pan and just pour it over the tenderloin. Or you could try peach-cherry salsa from Washington’s own Chukar Cherries, available at www.chukar.com or at their stall in Pike Place Market in Seattle. I offered both when I made this dish Saturday night.
I served this with salad and thinly sliced garlic Yukon gold potatoes, baked in the hot oven until crisp and lightly browned. And yes, we had leftovers.
Cheers!
Janet Cleaveland
What happens when a retired journalist spends a lot more time in the kitchen than in past years? She tries new dishes and jumps at the chance to write a blog about food, family and good times. My kids are grown now, but I'll be looking back at how they learned to cook, what recipes my husband (the Intrepid One) and I are experimenting with, and how food and conversation make for happy times in the kitchen. I worked for The Columbian for 15 years as a copy editor and another 10 elsewhere, though I didn't start out as a journalist. I thought I wanted to teach English literature. My husband grew up in Clark County, and I've lived here since 1983. My kids have grown and left home. Like my husband of 52 years, our adopted chocolate Lab would never pass up a chance for a tasty meal.