One of my favorite flavor combinations is sweet and savory. This is why I love to make a sweet sauce for a savory piece of meat. One of the first dishes I made well as a grown up was basically just about the sauce because I could do it with steak or chicken. It was a blackberry Merlot sauce where I reduced the wine with blackberry jam until it was a thick glaze. It really wowed ’em!
Last night, I made pork tenderloin with roasted summer squash, peppers, and tomatoes. The trick to this pork, I’ve recently discovered, is brining it for a few hours in the fridge. I placed the cutlets in a Ziplock with some white wine, water, brown sugar, smoked salt, and rosemary salt. Then I sauteed (sort of braised since there was a good amount of liquid, but at a higher temp so it was boiling) it in the brining liquid for about 4 min on each side. Then I took the cutlets out of the pan, removed the remaining liquid, then seared them off in butter. I like to call it a reverse sear because their already almost cooked when I do this and usually you sear things first. I don’t play by no kitchen rules, na’mean? It came out perfect and then I made it even better by smearing on some Stonewall Kitchen’s three citrus marmalade.
The sweet marmalade set of off the salty brine just beautifully!! It was definitely a happy dance of flavors in my mouth. I love all of the Stonewall Kitchen jams. They truly “jam” with all the food I make or even just with a good cheese (I can’t have a cheese plate without something fruity). That has to be why it’s called “jam.” One of my faves is their maple bacon onion jam. If you haven’t tried it, you must!!
Eat, Drink, and Go! 