Caribbean-inspired Pork Tenderloin, Chayote Squash, Pineapple and Grilled Coconut
I
could have also named this post: How are
born the recipes
·
The deal: A pork
tenderloin
·
The promise: I have
imposed myself the challenge to never cooked twice the same recipe of this
versatile cut of pork.
·
The challenge: I may
have already cooked it a hundred times (I should hardly exaggerate) in a hundred
different recipes (ditto).
Thus,
for the “101th” recipe, I looked for some inspirations on the Web
and I found a very exciting recipe made by a chef whom I like a lot, Olivier
Bellin. He runs a Michelin two-star restaurant in the North of Brittany…
another reason to like him, and he is recognized as a master in cooking the
seafood provided by the ocean that faces his restaurant. But Brittany is also
known for its pig farming, its pork specialties and its vegetable (cauliflowers,
artichokes…) growing favored by the maritime climate. His recipe, on top of the
pork tenderloin, features celeriac, pineapple, apple and pear. But what makes
it outstanding is that his way of cooking the loin: poached in milk, before being
rapidly seared in butter.
I loved
it! Problem: I didn’t have all the ingredients. No apple. No celeriac. No pear…
but I have something looking like a non-ripe pear… a chayote squash. This was
the starting point of my revisited version of the chef Bellin’s recipe. The
chayote, also named christophine in French, is very common in the French
Caribbean. I remember having had it under various forms, gratin, grilled…
during my windsurfing trips there. I also had pineapple, fresh coconut and dry shredded
coconut to make coconut milk. This is how Bellin’s recipe took a Carribbean
twist: Caribbean-inspired Pork Tenderloin, poached in coconut then seared in
coconut oil, served with Chayote Squash, Pineapple and Grilled Coconut Segment,
meat-coconut milk-pineapple juice-nuoc mam juice. This milk poaching technique contributes to make the meat remarkably moist and melting in mouth, on top loading it with the coconut aromas. No doubt that the original recipe
will probably be my 102th pork loin recipe. Here is below number
101…
Levels of difficulty
|
Cost
|
Preparation
|
Resting
|
Cooking
|
n
|
$$
|
60 minutes
|
45 minutes
|
Ingredients
2 servings
|
Instructions
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§
1
pork tenderloin, prepared and trimmed to eliminate the fat, the nerves, and
the ends (keep those trims)
§
About
1/3 of a pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut in thick wedges. Recuperate the
juice
§
1
chayote squash, peeled, seeded (in fact, there is only one big seed, like a stone,
in the center), and cut in 4 quarters
§
The
pulp of 1 fresh coconut, peeled (otherwise use dry coconut flakes, and shredded
coconut to make coconut milk), and recuperate the water
§
1
shot of rum
§
1
tsp. of nuoc mam (or 1 anchovy) (optional)
§
Quatre-épices
or allspice
§
¼
red onion, whole
§
¼
red onion, sliced
§
1
(rather) big carrot, peeled and cut in segments
§
1
bay leaf
§
1
garlic clove
§
Coconut
oil
§
Butter
§
1
tbsp. of high temperature resistant oil
§
Cilantro
|
§ With a part of the fresh coconut (or with the shredded
coconut), make about 1 liter of coconut, and put it to boil, adding salt and
2 pinches of allspice
§ Put the carrot segment, the whole red onion, the bay
leaf, the crushed garlic clove, 1 tbsp. of coconut oil and 2 pinches of
allspice in a small saucepan, and start to heat on medium-low
§ Take the pork tenderloin that you would have taken
out from the fridge and salted ½ hour in advance, and cut it in two parts (to
fit the small saucepan and avoid using too much coconut milk), and place it
above the carrots in the saucepan
§ Pour all the coconut milk on the loin so that
to cover it and simmer for around 12 minutes for the thinner piece of loin
and around 15 minutes for the thicker one
§ After those 12/15 minutes remove the loin
from the pan and let it rest on a grid
§ While the loin is simmering, sear the loin
trims in coconut oil on medium-high, add the rum, evaporate the alcohol, add
the pineapple juice, the coconut water, a ladle of coco nut milk, the nuoc
mam (or the anchovy), 2 pinches of allspice and let reduce till obtain a thick
enough sauce. Salt at the end only if necessary (because of the nuoc mam and
the reduction)
§ While the loin is simmering and the sauce
reducing, cook the chayote in salted/spiced boiling water for around 10
minutes or till the chayote is cooked but still firm. Plunge them in iced
water to fix their tender green color, cut them in big chunks with fancy
shapes, and reserve them
§ Put coconut oil in a pan, on medium-low, and
start searing the sliced red onion, then the pineapple wedges, stirring them
up regularly so that they color on each side. Then, add the chayote chunks to
heat them up, and reserve warm the whole
§ Take the pan used for the pineapple, add the HT
oil et put on high. Then sear the loin pieces, turning them regularly and
pressing on them to color them on each side. Let them rest 5 minutes
§ Make a dozen of chips in the fresh coconut
and grill it for around 5 minutes in the oven
§ Cut the loin slantwise, to obtain 6 pieces of
around the same size, and dispose them on the plates, with the pineapple
wedges, the chayote chunks, the coconut chips, spread the sauce (previously
strained) and spread some chopped cilantro and allspice
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