Pan Fried Pork Tenderloin With A Pomegranate Reduction Sauce And Cowpoke Appaloosa Pinto Beans

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Texas Home Cooking, written by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. The only variation I've made is that I've used Anasazi (Appaloosa) beans along with the pinto beans and I didn't have a coke on hand so I used a Tecate beer. Their flavor only enhances the taste of the pinto beans. Oh, and I also used chicken broth in place of water, once the cooking began as well as ten times the garlic.



Cowpoke Pintos:


Ingredients:


1 pound dried pinto beans, soaked overnight (or 1/2 pound of pintos & 1/2 pound of Anasazi beans)

8 cups of water

12 ounces of Coca-Cola (or ginger ale, Dr. Pepper, or beer)

1 14-1/2 ounce can whole tomatoes, undrained

1-1/2 medium onions, chopped

1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato-based barbecue sauce

2 to 3 pieces slab bacon, chopped

3 Tablespoons Chili Powder

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

4 garlic cloves, minced

3 to 4 fresh serranos or jalapenos, seeded and minced

2 teaspoons of ground cumino or Mexican oregano

1 teaspoon salt, or more, to taste



Directions:


1. In a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot, combine all the ingredients except the salt.

2. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a simmer.

3. Cook slowly, stirring up from the bottom occasionally, for at least two hours, adding more water if the beans begin to seem dry.

4. If you cook the beans on a fire that's too hot, the skins of the beans will crack and curl, so be sure to keep the flame low. I cook them all day, very slowly.

5. Stir in the salt in the last few minutes of cooking. The beans should hold their shape but be soft and just a little soupy.

6. Serve in bowls with some of the liquid. Add cornbread and you're done.


Pan Fried Pork Tenderloin With Pomegranate Reduction Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 pork tenderloins (each about 3/4 pound)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup plain pomegranate juice (such as POM Wonderful)
• 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 to 2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions:

1. Stir together cumin, coriander, pepper, cinnamon, and salt in a shallow bowl. Pat tenderloins dry and dredge in spice mixture until evenly coated.

2. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Reduce heat to moderate and cook pork, turning occasionally, until meat is browned on all sides and thermometer inserted diagonally into center of each tenderloin registers 145°F, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer pork with tongs to a cutting board (reserve skillet) and let stand 10 minutes.

3. While pork stands, pour off and discard any fat from skillet, then add pomegranate juice to skillet and boil over moderately high heat until reduced to about 2/3 cup, about 3 minutes (if side of skillet begins to scorch, reduce heat to moderate). Stir together cornstarch and water and whisk into juice, then boil sauce until thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Remove from heat and add Sherry vinegar to taste, then swirl in butter until incorporated. Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and skim off any fat. Season with salt. Slice pork and serve with sauce.


The beans and pork are even better the second night. Crumble some cornbread into a bowl and pour beans with liquid over the cornbread. Serve with the sliced pork tenderloin with pomegranate reduction drizzled over the top.




On another note, the Coca-Cola purportedly reduces the gaseous effect of beans. However, nothing much works if you go dancing afterward....


Oh, and guess who I saw today? The lovely Felicia. I wanted to go out and put a blankie over her (it's COLD!) Mr. Snoots just looked at me with a raised eyebrow.... I didn't do it. But, she looked really cold!