No pictures for this one simply because I had company and no time......
But the reviews were sufficiently glowing that I thought it merited discussion.
Roasted Pork Tenderloin, with caramelized onion and fennel, and smoked rice, with a Chipotle-Orange Sauce over the top.
The details:
Iranian Smoked Rice, cooked simply with grated garlic, grated orange zest, salt, freshly ground fennel seed, butter, and homemade chicken stock.
Thinly shaved onion and fennel (anise) using a mandolin, sauteed in a bit of canola, w/just salt and pepper, initially. Then grated garlic, a bit of sugar, dried chipotle powder, and butter, finished w/some homemade chicken stock (like 2 tablespoons, enough to create a veil of steam, but leave the veg a bit crispy from the sautee)
Then a simple dry rub of garlic salt and freshly cracked pepper, w/ground fennel on the whole pork, which was seared off in canola, then put in the oven for about 10m at 350 to a temp of 130F. This will give tender pork with a blush of pink after a 5-10 minute rest. (no need to tent it)
When it comes out, the pre-mixed sauce goes in ...... 1 cup of OJ, 3 tbsp Chipotle puree (chipotle adobo in a can, pureed in a blender with just a bit of oil), 1 tsp cumin, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp soy sauce (trust me), some finely diced fresh jalapeno, 1/2 cup homemade chicken stock, and freshly grated garlic.
This goes in the hot saute pan to deglaze after the pork is removed, scrape the fond off the pan, add any resting jus from the pork, reduce by 1/3 to 1/2, should still be very liquidy, but thickening.
Take off the heat, add six pats butter (1/2 a stick or 1/8 of a pound). Melt that in and whisk. Then add 2tbsp cornstarch slurry (corn starch and cold water well whisked). Whisk in, add back to heat, keep whisking to avoid clumps. When happy w/the thickness, strain into a gravy boat/sauce container through a mesh strainer, push though with spoon or spatula.
Mold the rice in a large ramekin. Spoon out the middle, put the caramelized onion-fennel in the cavity. Press down firmly. Put service plate on top of ramekin and flip, de-molding the rice w/the caramelized veg as a hidden treat inside. Do this on the side of he plate .
Slice the pork, fan out 5-6 slices around the rice, pour the sauce over the edge of the pork, and mostly fill the plate w/ it (thinly).
Dust w/freshly chopped fennel frawn and fennel pollen.
Serve w/the wine of your choice, but I highly commend this New Zealand Sauv. Blanc.
750 mL bottle
www.lcbo.com