Medallions of Pork with Dried Cherries and Apple Juice Reduction

I picked up a center cut pork fillet the other day and was looking for some inspiration.  I’ve been wanting to do something with pork in a preparation similar to Steak Au Poivre, but a little lighter.  I found a Food and Wine recipe that suggested cutting a tenderloin into fillets, pan searing and making a pan sauce with Apples and Riesling.  Sounded great but I was short the Apples and the Riesling, so I improvised a bit with what I found in the cupboard.  Sear the pork well in a stainless or aluminum pan– skip the non-stick stuff on this one.  You want a create a good fond as the base to deglaze and create the sauce.  This is a great technique– super simple and elegant.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1.5 pound of center cut pork loin or pork tenderloin

Salt and Pepper

2 cups apple juice, organic, unsweetened, unfiltered

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp Canola Oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

Directions

Empty the apple juice into a small bowl and warm in microwave for about a minute.  Soak Cherries to soften.

Trim the pork of excess fat and cut into 1 inch-thick fillets.  Season with salt and pepper.

Heat Oil in skillet over medium-high heat until it just begins to smoke.  Add pork fillets to pan and do not touch them!  The pork with be seared to a deep brown in 5 to 6 minutes.  The meat will easily turn at that point.  Turn and finish for another 5 to 6 minutes on the other side until pork reaches 160 to 170 degrees.  Remove from pan and allow to rest.

Increase the heat slightly and add the apple juice from the bowl with the soaking cherries, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits from the pork.  Once the pan is clear and juice is beginning to boil, add the remaining juice with cherries and the dried thyme.  Cook at a high heat, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and cherries are soft.  Remove from heat, stir in butter.  Serve sauce over pork.

Cut pork loin into 1 inch thick fillets

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Reduce apple juice and cherries over high heat

Finished plate