SPICED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH APPLES

Last night was meal #2 from the November Double Issue of Cooking Light.  It was the perfect meal for the cold, damp weather outside.  Perfect comfort food!
I have to admit, that as always, I did tweak this just a little bit.  That often happens based upon what ingredients I have on hand and the tastes of my family.  This recipe calls for sauteed apples and scallions to be served with the pork medallions.  While that sounded quite yummy to  me, I knew the rest of the cavemen living in my house wouldn’t think so.  To please them I just sauteed apples in a side pan and served them on the side of my own serving but left them off of the remainder.  I also prepared a little more than the recipe called for, as usual, and only had a couple of bits leftover.  We had sauteed kale, prepared with a little olive oil, garlic and apple cider, on the side.  The cavemen also had roasted potatoes.  (I would show you a photo, but they weren’t very pretty and my desktop computer has a mind of its own lately!)  So, enjoy the beautiful professional photo of this delicious dinner!

Hope you try this one!

SPICED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH SAUTEED APPLES

Ingredients

• 3/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut crosswise into 12 pieces
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons butter $
• 2 cups thinly sliced unpeeled Braeburn or Gala apple $
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Preparation

1. 1. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Combine first 5 ingredients; sprinkle spice mixture evenly over pork. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan; keep warm.
2. 2. Melt butter in pan; swirl to coat. Add apple slices, 1/3 cup shallots, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; sauté 4 minutes or until apple starts to brown. Add apple cider to pan, and cook for 2 minutes or until apple is crisp-tender. Stir in thyme leaves. Serve apple mixture with the pork.