Niman Ranch Pork Tenderloin, with herb-crushed potatoes, caramelized fennel and rhubarb, honey ginger reduction
Chef Trey Foshee says Niman Ranch pork comes from small family farms without antibiotics or hormones, and the sauce is fairly light, but the fennel and rhubarb combination also has been a big draw. “Caramelizing the fennel and sweetening it a little is using a vegetable as a fruit, and not adding sugar to the rhubarb returns it to being a vegetable, not a fruit.”
Serves 4
Honey-ginger reduction
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon black pepper, cracked
2 tablespoons honey
1/8 cup cider vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon butter
1. Combine ginger, black pepper, and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil until the honey just starts to caramelize.
2. Add the cider vinegar and reduce to a syrup, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the stock and reduce to the consistency of a sauce. Add the butter, and set aside.
1. Rinse the potatoes and cover with salted water in a pot.
2. Bring to a simmer and cook until just tender, about 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave potatoes in the pot.
(Herbs and oil used when finishing the potatoes at end of recipe.)
Pork Tenderloins
4 6-ounce pork tenderloins
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 sprigs of thyme
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Salt and pepper the tenderloins.
3. Heat two sauté pans over medium heat and add one tablespoon of oil to each pan.
4. Brown the tenderloins on one side, turn and add the thyme and garlic cloves to the pans (they’re just for flavoring the oil and will be discarded later).
5. Place in the oven to roast approximately 12-15 minutes or until an internal temperature of 155 degrees measured with an instant-read thermometer (the temperature will keep rising after the tenderloins are removed from the oven). Remove and keep warm.
Fennel
2 fennel bulbs, sliced thin
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 rhubarb stalks, sliced thin
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 cup sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper
1. Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil and the fennel. Sauté until fennel starts to caramelize.
2. Add the rhubarb slices and the sugar, and sauté until tender.
3. Add the sherry vinegar and simmer until completely reduced. Season with salt and pepper.
Finish the potatoes:
1. Place the warm potatoes in a bowl and using a fork smash them with the herbs and oil. Season with salt and pepper.
To Plate:
1. Place the fennel mixture in a row down the center of the plate.
2. Slice the pork tenderloins and lay atop the fennel.
3. Place a pile of the potatoes on the side and drizzle the sauce around the plate.
Niman Ranch Pork Tenderloin, with herb-crushed potatoes, caramelized fennel and rhubarb, honey ginger reduction
