Sunday, August 23, 2009

Oregon Red Currant Sauce

Honey Pork Tenderloin with Polenta and Red Currant Sauce:
This was a fun recipe to make. Believe it or not the pork tenderloin was broiled not grilled. All I did was cover it in honey, ginger, garlic, a bit of karo, and creole seasoning. Then filled the bottom of the broiler with some chicken stock, apple vinegar, dried pineapples, and a bit of white wine. Turned the broiler to high and cooked it 20 minutes (turning it over half way through). Made some creamy polenta to go with and wa-la!
The star of this dish was the red currant sauce which I adapted from a recipe on http://blog.healthyeats.com
The recipe called for half a cup either champagne or white wine vinegar, which I found kind of odd sense they are very different in flavor. I took a gamble and went with the white wine vinegar thinking the currants might be a bit tart and the vinegar might do the trick to counteract that. In the end the sauce turned out pretty wonderfully although next time I am going to go with champagne instead because the vinegar was good with pork but on a different protein such as lamb for instance I think you wouldn't appreciate the vinegar's acidity as much, as with pork I also used apple cider vinegar (which is common).


Red Currant Sauce
Makes 1/2 cup

1 pint red currants
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup Champagne or white wine vinegar (I recommend champagne)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 whole garlic clove, peeled

In a small saucepan, combine currants, sugar, vinegar, salt and garlic. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until currants burst and liquid has reduced by half. Strain the mixture through a fine strainer, cool slightly and serve.