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!