Pork Cutlets with a Port and Cherry Pan Sauce

Pork is not something we eat a lot of in our house . . . It's not that we don't like it.  We both really love it . . . it's just not something we have very often.  When we do have it, I find myself wondering why we don't have it more often than we do!!  It's so very yummy!

When I was a child, we used to have pork chops about once a week.  In the olden days, way back then, people used to think that you had to cook pork to death . . . and so my mother's pork chops always closely resembled boomerangs.  It  never failed.  They always ended up dry and hard, except that you didn't want them to come back!  Sorry mom!

Mom would sometimes cook roast pork . . . but my dad only liked it served cold, so we never had hot roast pork for dinner.  It was always served  a day old and cold . . . thinly sliced, and  with some French's mustard on the side.  I used to long for a hot roast pork dinner . . . with lots of gravy and mashed spuds, and perhaps some applesauce and stuffing.  (Oh and let's not forget the brussels sprouts and carrots!)

We never ever had anything like pork tenderloin.  I am not sure I even knew pork tenderloin existed when I was growing up!  (Not in our house anyways!)  Once I became an adult, however, and began cooking for myself, I made up for lost time with lots of hot roast pork dinners, tender pork chops and tasty pork tenderloin . . .  One of my favourite ways to do a Pork loin involves making deep cuts into it every couple of inches of the surface and inserting thin slices of garlic and herbs into the pockets.  It's also fabulous stuffed with fruit . . . especially prunes and apricots . . .

I love pork tenderloin, as long as it's cooked properly. It is like the filet steak of porkdom!  Nice and tender and full of flavour . . .

Pork goes so  very well with fruit.  More often than not we have it with apples and cider . . .  but occasionally you come across a little gem like this fantastic recipe that I found in Cooking Light.  (Which also means it is low in fat and calories!  Always a bonus!) I adapted it slightly, of course!  The original didn't call for flouring the meat, but I felt that it would give it a lovely crispy crust.

I was right.  This is fabulous!  The meat nice and tender and moist, but with a rich outside crust, and that sauce . . . it's a wonderful combination of fruit and tang . . . in short . . . to die for!  A most wonderful combination!

What's even better is that it comes  together lickety split!!  You can have it on the table quicker than you can say Jack Robin!!  This will have them licking their chops for sure!  I would serve this to company!!

*Pork Cutlets with a Port and Cherry Pan Sauce*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Delicious pork tenderoin cutlets sauteed until golden brown and served with a scrumptious Port and Dried Cherry pan sauce.

250ml of ruby port (1 cup)
a generous handful of dried cherries
4 tsp seedless raspberry jam
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBS sunflower oil
1 1/2 pound piece of pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 dessert spoons of plain flour
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 TBS butter

Whisk together the port, cherries, jam and mustard.  Set aside to allow the cherries to macerate and plump up a bit.

Cut  the pork tenderloin crosswise into 16 even pieces.  Season well with  some salt and black pepper.  Dust lightly with flour, shaking off any  excess.

Heat the oil in a skillet until hot.  Add the pork and  cook approximately 4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cooked  through.  Remove from the pan and set aside, keeping it warm.

Stir  the wine mixture into the pan, scraping to loosen any browned bits up from  the bottom of the pan.  Allow to bubble up and reduce until about half  the volume.  Remove from the heat.  Whisk in the butter.  Divide the  pork between heated dinner plates, spooning an equal amount of cherry  sauce over each portion.