Sunday, August 25, 2013

Spicy Pork with Peach Sauce and Braised Cabbage

The farm has been quite generous with peaches over the last few weeks, with recent shares containing 8 peaches every time. This has presented a bit of a challenge in that the peaches are not yet ripe when I get them, and inevitably they will all ripen at the same time resulting in a bit of a scramble for us to get them all used before they start going bad. Not that I'm really complaining about having to eat lots of nice ripe peaches, but it got me thinking that it would be good to have a few ways to use unripe peaches as well.


Since the unripe peach are quite firm, they don't fall apart as easily during cooking and I wanted to take full advantage of this by using them in two of the three components in this dish. The main protein, pork is often paired with fruit, apples probably being the most common. I've never tried pork with peach, but there are plenty of pork/peach recipes on the web, so it appears I've been missing out.


After sifting through a few recipes, I decided to go for a sweet/spicy combination by using a spicy rub on the pork and then serving it with a sweet peach sauce. Since the unripe peaches are rather tart, I'll add some sugar to the sauce to give it a bit of sweetness, but not too much. The second way I used the peaches was to combine them with red cabbage (left from a couple shares ago) and onion and then braise the whole lot with vinegar until it reaches its happy place. Pork, peach sauce, braised cabbage...this is going to be good!





Share Contents Used
Cabbage
Peaches
Onion

Spicy Pork with Peach Sauce
1 lb pork tenderloin
Olive oil
Creole spice rub (see below)
1 cup sweet white wine (I used Riesling)
3 unripe peaches, peeled, pitted, and sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
2 tsp brown sugar
Salt

Preparation
Creole Spice Rub - Combine the following to make this very versatile spice rub. Works great on chicken or steak also. Store the excess rub in a airtight container for up to 3 months. This recipe is straight from Emeril and the Food Network.
2-1/2 tbs paprika
2 tbs salt
2 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs freshly ground black pepper
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs cayenne
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs dried thyme

Spicy Pork - Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Trim the tenderloin of any excess fat. Season with salt and pepper on all sides and then liberally coat with the spice rub, massaging it into the pork with your hands. In a large oven proof skillet heat the oil over high heat then sear the tenderloin on all sides until nicely browned, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast until the internal temperature of the pork registers 140 degrees for rare or 155 for well done. Remove from the oven and cover with foil to rest (the internal temperature will continue to rise during this time).


Peach Sauce - Pour the wine into a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook until the wine has reduced to half its original volume. Add the peaches, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Return the pan to a simmer, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the peaches are tender but not mushy and the sauce has reduced down to a slightly thick consistency, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Braised Cabbage with Peaches
1 tbs olive oil
1 cup onion, thinly sliced
1 unripe peach, peeled, pitted, and sliced
2 pounds red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water

Preparation
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat then add the onion and peaches and cook, stirring often until the onion softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, vinegar, sugar and water and season with salt and pepper. Bring the pot to a boil then reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover, and cook until cabbage is tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving. Note that the peaches will fall apart with all the time in the pot here, but there should still be some chunks left and the rest just infuses for flavor into the entire dish. 


To serve, spoon some cabbage onto a plate, then after the pork has rested for at least 5 minutes, slice and place on top of the cabbage. Finish by spooning the peach sauce over the pork.

2 comments:

Dan from Platter Talk said...

Yet another great idea to enjoy our seasonal summer peaches!! Our whole family loves pork and this is certain to go over well. Thanks for the great post!

Unknown said...

Seems like there are never enough uses for the peaches. As a bonus, the leftover sauce is great on vanilla ice cream! Thanks for stopping by!

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