Sunday, October 27, 2013

Ginger-Lemongrass Brined Pork Tenderloin with Red Wine Poached Apple



I was in Asiantown and happened to have bought some lemongrass.  I have always loved the flavors of lemongrass in pork.  Growing up, my Mom would add lemongrass to thinly sliced grilled pork called Thit Nuong.

Well this is not anything close to it, but I just wanted to bring back my childhood memories and cook with lemongrass.  This was the first I had made this, but figured brining is the best way to add moisture to meat and the flavors I want into it.  

The brine consisted of lemongrass, ginger, onion, parsley, whole peppercorn, salt and green onions.  When I do my brine, I make a very concentrated solution and let it all boil and infuse its flavors together for about 20 minutes.  The reason I make a very concentrated solution is that because I am impatient and cannot wait for the brine to cool down completely.  After about 20 minutes, I add in plenty of ice to dilute it to the concentration I need it to be and to cool it down completely.  

Here was my mistake, the reason I chose the brining method was because I thought I had purchased a pork loin and did not know I had bought tenderloin.  Oh well...I went ahead and did a 24 hour brine on the tenderloin.  I started it the night before and it was ready for me to roast the next day.

The next day, timing was perfect for the apple and the pork tenderloin.  By the time the pork got to room temperature to roast, I was finishing up poaching the apple in red wine.  

The pairing of the pork tenderloin and poached red wine was perfect.  I prepared a carrot puree to go with the plate as well.  The red wine that was used to poach the apple was spiced with a couple of spices that I had added.



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