I grew up eating at a classic American dinner table where pork was ALWAYS accompanied by apple sauce. I could have been a bottle of Mott's or homemade…..smooth or chunky, but it was always there. There is something magical about the combination of pork and fruit, whether it be apples, apricots, peaches, or even blueberries. You name it, and if it's a fruit it is highly likely that it will pair really well with pork.
I cooked this tenderloin roast using my ANOVA circulator, don't you just love how perfectly moist and pink this meat is? Totally loving this new addition to my kitchen tool chest. While I realize most of you have yet to hop on the sous-vide band wagon, this recipe can easily be made by cooking the pork however you prefer. On the grill, or roasted in the oven; cooked whole or cut into chops, knock yourself out. If you do have a sous-vide circulator 140℉ for 2 hours will yield a pork tenderloin like you see above. A quick dance in a screaming hot cast iron pan for caramelization et voila…..porcine perfection.
What really makes this dish a star is the sauce that accompanies the meat. If you’ve never made a gastrique before, then you are in for a real treat today. Gastriques, which are sweet-sour sauces are frightfully simple to make, naturally sodium-free, and packed with such flavor that they will make even the blandest piece of meat dance in your mouth. Gastriques are really nothing more than some form of sugar cooked with an acid (usually a wine or vinegar), then flavored with fruits, herbs or spices to achieve a desired flavor. For this dish I cooked some sugar and a touch of water to a rich brown caramel, then added some apple cider vinegar and blueberries, and reduced the whole mix to a syrupy consistency, it was SO good.
Cheers – Steve
Sous-Vide Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Gastrique
Ingredients
- pork tenderloin
- kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the gastrique:
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups fresh (or frozen and thawed) blueberries
Instructions
- Pull the well chilled tenderloin from the fridge, dry with a paper towel and season liberally with salt and pepper. Vacuum seal in a sous-vide safe bag and cook sous-vide at 140℉ for 2 hours.
Meanwhile make the gastrique:
- Place the sugar and water in a high sided, heavy bottomed pan set over medium high heat. Stir just enough to wet the sugar (it should look like wet sand) then leave it alone to melt and start to caramelize. When the liquid sugar starts to turn color at the edges slowly swirl the pan to evenly distribute the browning sugar. Cook the sugar to a dark amber and pull it from the heat just as it starts to smoke. Moving quickly, tilt the pan away from you and pour in the vinegar. It will splatter and steam like nobody’s business (this is why you want a high-sided pan), so be careful. When it all settles down, place it back over medium heat and scrape any hardened sugar from the bottom of the pan, stirring it to reincorporate it into the vinegar. Add the berries and continue to cook over medium heat until the gastrique is reduced slightly and achieves a syrupy consistency, 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let cool.