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Courtesy of Andrew Cohen
Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin trimmed of all fat and silver-skin, cut into 1-1/2 inch medallions
Vanilla "Cure" for Pork
2 Rain's Choice vanilla beans, chopped or
1 teaspoon Rain's Choice freshly ground vanilla bean powder
1-1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons pan toasted black peppercorns
Instructions
In a food processor or blender, grind all of the above until finely powdered and well mixed.
Dust the pork with enough of the vanilla cure to evenly coat and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours or over night.
Pre-heat oven to 400°
Over medium-high heat, pre-heat a non-stick (or well-seasoned heavy pan wiped with a little oil) pan large enough to hold all the pork without crowding until hot. If your pan is not large enough, cook the pork in batches.
When the pan is hot, sear the pork until well browned, and then using tongs, turn the meat and sear the other side until it too is browned and crisp.
As each piece of pork is done, remove it to a foil lined baking dish (the foil is for ease of cleaning; the curing mix can burn in a baking dish). When all the pork is done, place in the oven and finish cooking. This should take about 5-6 minutes. The pork should just be pale pink; the meat will still be hot enough to finish cooking while you let it “rest” on the stovetop for 5 minutes under a piece of foil.
Place 2 medallions per plate and sauce to serve.
Coffee Sauce for Vanilla Pork
Ingredients
Trimmings from 1 pork tenderloin
1/2 cup each of carrots and celery diced fine
2 medium shallots diced fine
2 tablespoons Cognac or high quality brandy
1/2 cup of chardonnay
2 cup light chicken stock
1/4 cup freshly made dense coffee from fruity, light roast beans
(If the coffee is bitter the sauce may well be also.)
1/2 – 1 cup of chicken demi-glace
Salt and fresh ground pepper
Sugar to taste if needed
2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter cut into pea sized bits and kept cold
Instructions
Heat 1 tablespoon of neutral flavored oil such as grape-seed in a heavy bottomed 1-1/2 quart saucepan over medium-high. When the oil is hot pour it out and add the pork trimmings. Cook to crisp the trimmings so they give off a nice meaty aroma.
Add the carrots and celery, tossing to coat with oil and fat in the pan.
Cook until the vegetables start to caramelize.
Add the shallots and cook until they turn translucent. Be careful to keep stirring them so they don’t burn.
Add the brandy or Cognac to the pan, and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to release the bits on the bottom. Add the wine to the pan, and boil to reduce by 80%.
Add the chicken stock, and turn down the heat to medium and reduce by 70%.
Add the coffee, stir, and simmer for one minute.
Strain the sauce into a bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as you can without pushing through any vegetable matter. Wipe out any detritus from the pan and return to the heat.
Add the strained sauce back to the pan and add the demi-glace. If the demi is very dense, you may only need 1/2 cup. Heat to melt the demi and reduce until the sauce feels silky. If you need to, add the rest of the demi. The sauce should film the back of a spoon dipped into the sauce.
Taste the sauce; add sugar if necessary to achieve a balance between bitter and sweet. (The sweet is derived from the carrots, shallots and brandy.)
At this point, the sauce should be ready to use. To further enrich the sauce, you can pour in the juices from the pork that have accumulated in the baking pan. This will thin out your sauce but add flavor. The butter will thicken it.
Remove the pan from the heat and toss in a few of the butter bits, swirling and whisking the sauce to incorporate the butter. Keep adding butter bits, a few at a time, until the sauce has achieved a silky consistency. When the back of a spoon is dipped in the sauce, you should be able to run your finger through the sauce and leave a trail. This technique can be used whether or not you add the pan drippings.
Use this sauce very soon after making it. The flavors are heat sensitive and the coffee can become bitter rendering the sauce unpalatable. If you are thinking of making this recipe for company, prepare it once beforehand so you are familiar with it. It is not complicated; it just takes a little attention.
If you wish, a little pinch of true cinnamon (also known as canela) would be a nice way to add additional depth to the sauce. Do not go overboard, it is just to add nuance.
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