Friday, July 22, 2011

French Fridays with Dorie - Coconut-Lemongrass Braised Pork

My original plan for this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Coconut-Lemongrass Braised Pork, was to adapt it for the grill. That didn't work out, but the final dish did end up slightly different from Dories's recipe. It still had the same basic ingredients, but I used the spices as a dry rub on pork tenderloin (in place of cubed pork butt), seared the tenderloin in olive oil and finished it in the oven (rather than braising), added green curry paste to the coconut milk, and used zucchini in place of celery root.


I started by seasoning the tenderloin with coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, and I used the remaining spices (turmeric, curry powder, cardamom, white peppercorns, and coriander) as a dry rub. I seared the tenderloin stove-top, and finished it off in the oven. Meanwhile, I sauteed the onions, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini, and then added the coconut milk and green curry paste (I was unable to score lemongrass at our local market, but the curry paste does contain it), and let the sauce cook down a bit. The tenderloin emerged from the oven perfectly tender and slightly pink. Dorie suggests rice or egg noodles to soak up the sauce, and I went with rice.

Coconut-Lemongrass Pork Curry with Vegetables
Adapted from Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours
Serves 2-4

1 whole pork tenderloin (about 1 lb.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 1/4 teaspoon mild or hot Madras curry powder (I used hot)
Seeds from 6 cardamom pods
6 white peppercorns
6 coriander seeds
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 small carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
1 small onion, peeled, halved, and each half cut into eighths
1 medium zucchini, sliced diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
3 medium red potatoes, halved, and each half quartered
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon green curry paste
Cooked white rice or egg noodles, for serving

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grind spices using a mortar and pestle. Sprinkle the spice rub over the tenderloin and rub the pork with the seasoning over the entire outside of the meat, pressing gently so the seasoning adheres well to the tenderloin.

In a large oven proof skillet, over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and heat. Put tenderloin in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, searing each side using tongs to turn the meat. Transfer meat to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until internal temperature is 140 degrees F. Remove from oven, transfer to plate, tent with foil, and allow to rest while you prepare the vegetables (during resting, the internal temperature will rise to 155 degrees F).

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and heat over medium high. Add the onions and potatoes and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and saute another 2-3 minutes. Turn heat down to medium, and stir in the coconut milk and green curry paste. Cover, and allow to simmer until vegetables are tender, about 5 more minutes, and then add the zucchini and lemon zest. Cover and let simmer while you slice the pork.

For serving, place some rice or noodles on the plate, add the vegetable curry, and top with sliced pork.

***

French Fridays with Dorie is an online cooking group, dedicated to Dorie Greenspan‘s newest book Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours.  As members of the group, we have purchased the cookbook and cook along as much as we can. There is a new recipe each week, and we post about that recipe on Friday. We are asked to refrain from posting the actual recipes on our blog. The book is filled with stunning photography, and personal stories about each recipe, which makes it that much more intriguing. I highly recommend adding it to your cookbook collection if you haven't already!

14 comments:

Cher Rockwell said...

Great idea on grilling the pork. That really looks good.

michelle said...

Oh, that looks delicious (and beautiful)! That's what I should have done! A pork tenderloin! Great idea. As it was, I wasn't super crazy about the pork butt (but I loved the flavors).

Unknown said...

Looks delish! I had my butcher cube a small pork tenderloin for the braise but I was worried it might dry out so I didn't cook it very long and it was fine. Your sauce looks wonderful and I like the idea of grilling the pork next time;-)

Unknown said...

Love what you did with this recipe! You always come up with neat ideas!

Unknown said...

Using the spices as a dry rub and adding green curry are both great twists on the original recipe. And your tenderloin looks so impossibly perfect! I'll have to try grilling my meat for this recipe in future.

Unknown said...

I just had dinner...and you're making me hungry again! And even better being on the grill! =)

I have a "Flash-Back-Friday" linky going on right now, Its so fun looks at old posts--would love for you to link up one! =)
Cookin' for my Captain's FBF #9

tricia s. said...

I also used a tenderloin but love how you did the dry rub as well as the other "tweaks" you made. I didn't "dislike" the version I ended up with, but was underwhelmed. Thankfully, it was a hit in Nana's house - so all is well.

Susan said...

I like your adaptation! And I liked the flavors of this dish.

Anonymous said...

The tenderloin looks great. Using a dry rub is a nice variation of this recipe.

Adriana said...

What a great reinterpretation! I think the original recipe was missing a little heat but I think that had more to do with the curry powder I used.

Betsy said...

I love your interpretation of this recipe. It's my favorite post I've read on this one so far.
I changed the recipe around myself, but I think your twists (the spice rub, curry paste, grilled meat) would fix what I found lacking in the recipe. I wasn't sure I would make this again, but your post changed my mind. I'll be making your version the next time.

Steph said...

Denise, your dish looks terrific! Loved that you rubbed it and grilled it. Your veggies look great too! I had to resort to the crushed lemongrass in a tube...but it didn't seem to hurt the dish.

Frolicking Night Owl said...

Grilling is a great idea for hot summer days!!

KarenP said...

Wow, that looks fantastic! I am thinking of trying curry paste in place of the curry powder next time I make this and seeing that you successfully did it gives me confidence!