Kung Pao Pork

When it rains, it pours.  I've been reading so many old and new recipes lately that I'm getting quite the stockpile of new ones to try.  I'm *almost* getting worried that when I go back to work I won't have the time to be cooking all these recipes.  I guess I covered my bases when I made my resolution to try ONE new recipe a week, and on those weeks that I am able to try more, I will be blogging more.  Plus I'm pretty organized, so I'm hopeful that I'll continue with multiple blog entries each week!

Last night it was time to try Kung Pao Pork.  We love stir fry and trying variations of stir fry...and this one caught my eye.  I've adapted it to suit our taste. 

Here is the recipe:

1 pound pork (I used pork loin), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cloves garlic, minced (separated)

1 cup chicken broth (I used organic)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

½ cup fennel, thinly sliced

1 medium red pepper, seeded, cut into thin strips

Snow peas

Broccoli, chopped

In a small bowl, make marinade by whisking together soy sauce, fresh ginger, cornstarch, 1 clove of the garlic and the chicken broth.  Add the sliced pork to the marinade, toss to coat.  Marinate for 1 hour in the fridge, stir occasionally.

Over medium-high heat, warm the oil in a large saucepan.  Add onion, pepper and fennel; cook, stirring constantly, until tender, about 3-4 minutes.

Add remaining 1 clove of garlic and cook, stirring often, another minute.

Add broccoli and snow peas to the saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, approximately 4-5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and pour pork and marinade into skillet and cook, stirring often, until pork is no longer pink and sauce is warmed through and thickened, approximately 7-8 minutes.

VERDICT:

LOVE LOVE LOVE. This was delicious! We served the dish over fried rice noodles, which was a nice change from our usual rice.  From the first bite we were all in love.  The pork was soooooo tender, it nearly melted in our mouths.  The flavour was awesome, and my husband said right from the start that there wouldn't be any leftovers.  We liked it THAT much!  His only complaint was that there should be more broccoli (he loves broccoli).  That's an easy addition! I might throw some cashews into the mix next time, just to give it a try, but really, we enjoyed the meal just as it was!

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Pork Tenderloin

Actually, the full title of this recipe is "PORK TENDERLOIN SALTIMBOCCA ROASTED ON A BED OF BRAISED APPLES"...talk about a mouthful!  And we were hoping the mouthful would be delicious!

Rather than what seems to be our usual "Pizza Friday" I opted to make today "New Recipe Friday", armed with another Whitewater Cooks recipe. The pork tenderloin spoke to me because it's made with apples (my husband loves apple sauce with his pork so this seemed like something he would like) and dijon (another thing hubby likes) and white wine (that was for me, LOL).  And everything is the recipe are things I typically have on hand at home, with the exception of the prosciutto and sage (the sage only because it's February and the garden isn't growing!).  Anyways, it was a fairly easy dish to prepare, I think slicing the apples took the most time.  Here is the recipe...verdict to come.

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 tablespoons dijon
1 teaspoon pepper (fresh ground)
1 teaspoon salt
10 sage leaves (enough to cover top of the pork)
4-6 prosciutto slices
4-5 gala apples, thinly sliced, peels on
1 cup white wine (cookbook suggests riesling or gewurztraminer), I used gewurztraminer
1 tablespoon cold butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon dijon

Brush dijon on top of pork.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place sage leaves all along the top of the pork.  Lay prosciutto slices on work surface one after the other, slightly overlapping.  Place pork on prosciutto slices, sage side down, wrap it around the pork.  Arrange apple slices in bottom of oven-proof roasting pan and drizzle with 1/2 cup wine.  Put pork on top of apples with sage side up.

Roast in preheated 375F oven for 30-35 minutes.

Remove from oven and set pork aside on platter and cover with tin foil.  Place roasting pan on stove top at medium-low heat and add remaining 1/2 cup wine to apples to deglaze, about 2 minutes.  Add cold butter, maple syrup and 1 teaspoon dijon and simmer for 3 minutes.  Slice the pork and serve it with the warm apples.

VERDICT:
While it was a nice change for pork tenderloin, it wasn't our favourite dish ever.  It was good, but not great.  DH wasn't a big fan of the sage, though I enjoyed the fresh sage flavour. Prosciutto...um, yum! In the apples you could taste the wine and the maple syrup.  But overall it was just OK.  We might make it again, but then again, we might not.  Can't win them all!

That's OK...I have a whack of tagged recipes to try...I've got a few in mind for the next week, perhaps even a special Valentine's dinner!