Pork Tenderloin with Chestnut and Sherry Sauce
What a beautiful time of the year this is —and this week in particular, a week of anticipation, of preparations, for the big day on Christmas, if you celebrate it. The music in the stores, and in many radio stations, puts me in a happy mood, in an expectant mood. Maybe you’re traveling to see family. Maybe relatives are coming to spend some time with you. Or your son or daughter who’s in college is coming home for Christmas. You’re elaborating menus, cleaning the house, making room for guests. Preparations. Expectation. And chestnuts.
I spoke about the nostalgia of Christmas in my last post and I will not linger there, even though my happy mood is a mixture of happiness and nostalgia —how to explain it? Maybe if you lived in a country where you didn’t grow up you’d understand what I mean. But even if that’s not your case, the nostalgia of childhood, I’m sure, still invades you momentarily and without warning. Or you live it through your children, or the children around you. Maybe it’s a smell, a scent, that brings you back to those days, or that quite simply just reminds you of Christmas and this time of year —the anticipation for the days off to enjoy family, rest, food and laughter. That scent, for me, is that of roasted chestnuts.
Every November and December, on my walk home from the office in barrio Salamanca in Madrid when I used to live there, I would pass by several street vendors roasting chestnuts in large round grills, offering them to you in paper cucuruchos, paper cornets. The aroma of the freshly roasted chestnuts filling the streets, lights twinkling above from side to side of the street, and around the trees in the boulevards, fills me with warmth. Holding the paper cornet with the toasty chestnuts would warm up my hands in the chilly Madrid evening, and I’d arrive home with black fingertips from the peeling of the shells. The same scene and scent would repeat in the streets of Valencia, once back home to celebrate Christmas with my family.
Chestnuts and pork have been a popular combination in Spain for centuries. Particularly before the introduction of potatoes and corn from the Americas in the 15th century, chestnuts would provide a great source of nutrients when accompanying meat, and in particular the Iberian pig. The recipe I’m sharing today, pork tenderloin in chestnut and sherry sauce, is brilliant in its simplicity, yet makes for a very festive dish, one that will make a perfect meal at this time of year. I like to accompany it with roasted onions and potatoes with thyme, but you can serve it with any other vegetable that will allow you to pick up the last bit of the delicious sauce. Thick, smooth, with a hint of sherry following the chestnut, I like to serve the sauce first, and place the slices of pork tenderloin on top.
Merry Christmas! ¡Feliz Navidad!
PORK TENDERLOIN WITH CHESNUT AND SHERRY SAUCE
Solomillos de Cerdo con Salsa de Castañas y jerez
Ingredients:
1 lb raw chestnuts (or 10 oz if roasted)
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cream
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbs sherry
A pinch of salt
2 pork tenderloins, about 1 lb each
3 Tbs olive oil
If using raw chestnuts, roast them. To do so, use a pairing knife and make an incision in the shape of a cross at the bottom of each chestnut.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Place the chestnuts in an oven tray in a single layer and roast for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. When cool enough to handle, peel them (both the outer skin and the inner papery membrane will come off easily).
Place a medium sucepan over medium heat and add the milk, the cream and the chestnuts. Cover the pan and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Puré the chestnuts in the pan with an immersion blender, or in a food processor. Return the chestnut purée to the pan and add the butter, the sherry and the salt, and cook at low heat, stirring continuously for a couple of minutes. The sauce will thicken slightly. Remove from the heat (the sauce will thicken more as it cools).
Cook the pork tenderloins: season the meat generously with salt and pepper. In a heavy bottom skillet or cast iron casserole, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides, turning every 3 minutes or so, until an instant-read thermometer reads 165ºF, about 20 minutes total.
Transfer the loins to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes. Slice them into 2/3 -inch slices.
Place a generous dollop of chestnut sauce on a plate and arrange 3 slices of pork tenderloin on top.
ROASTED ONIONS AND POTATOES WITH OLIVE OIL AND THYME
Cebollas y Patatas Asadas con Tomillo
Ingredients:
2 medium onions
4 medium potatos
A pinch of coarse salt
A pinch of pepper
A few sprigs or fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dry thyme)
3 Tbs olive oil
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1.5-inch chunks. Peel the onions and quarter them lengthwise. Place the vegetables in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the chopped thyme and drizzle with the olive oil. Stir with a spoon to coat all vegetables. Transfer them to an oven tray and roast for about 30 minutes, or until crunchy and lightly brown in spots on the outside and tender on the inside.
