# Pork tenderloin in persillade with gratin of Jerusalem artichokes. Clafoutis with prunes for dessert



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Saturday's dinner. The main was entirely improvised on the fly! Turned out as one of my best Saturday experiments. Clafoutis; divine dessert and so easy to make!

*1. Pork tenderloin in persillade with Jerusalem artichokes*





  








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chrisbelgium


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Dec 1, 2013








_The tenderloin_; A "persillade" is more often done on lamb, but it went extremely well in this dish too. Brings extra taste and looks to the plate and it's simple to make.

- quickly sear the meat in a hot pan in oil/butter. Remove from the pan and let cool. Keep juices that come out to add to the sauce.

- cover the meat with a nice layer of Dijon mustard.

- make a mixture of stale bread, fresh parsley, s&p, optional a tiny bit of fresh garlic. Blitz into sort of a crumble.

- roll the tenderloin in this breadcrumb mixture. Tap gently.

- put in a hot oven, covered with aluminum foil for 8-10 minutes. Then remove foil and cook until done, in this case another 5 minutes.

(it's good to learn to feel by squeezing gently how far the meat is done)

- rest the meat for at least another 5 minutes; this will tenderize the meat nicely and will prevent the meat juices from flowing out when cutting the meat.

_The Jerusalem artichokes_; I kind of prefer the French name, topinambours, pronounce toh-pea-nahm-boor, with the emphasis on "boor". This is a variation I came up with on gratin Dauphinois.

- peel them, cut in thin slices and cook in salted water with a bit of white vinegar added until nearly done

- butter an oven dish and add half of the slices

- make a 50/50 cream/milk mixture with s&p and nutmeg added. Pour over the topinambours

- add the rest of the slices plus cream mixture until nicely covered and bake in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes or until the top starts to brown.

_The broccoli_; blanched in water then cooled asap in icewater. Reheated in butter, shallot, s&p, nutmeg.

_The sauce_;

- simmer portwine with a chopped shallot and an equal amount of red wine, a bit of sugar and a little red wine vinegar. Let it turn into almost nothing that looks like a syrup.

- add the same amount of veal stock as you had put wines in the sauce and let reduce.

- monter au beurre; simply add a not too large chunk of cold butter and swirl the pan, away from the heat, until dissolved. Keep warm on very low heat.

*2. Clafoutis with prunes*





  








ClafoutisPruimen.jpg




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chrisbelgium


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Dec 1, 2013








A classic clafoutis is made with fresh cherries but is also made with preserved ones and even a variation of fruits like plums or pears. Here I used preserved plums (halves) in a light syrup. A clafoutis has no pastry and is served slightly warm or cold.

- pour the syrup in a saucepan and let reduce until nicely thickened. Leave to cool.

- warm 200 ml cream with a vanillapod (scape the seeds out first). Leave to infuse, then add 120 ml of milk. Remove the vanillapod.

- mix 4 eggs, 50 g fine sugar, 70 g flour and 30 g of almond powder. Mix well and add the cream mixture.

- pour in a mold (I always use a glass one for clafoutis; no leakage guaranteed). Add the halved prunes; I add them one by one, starting from the edge, prunes cut side up.

- bake for 30-35 minutes or until done.

- sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with the reduced syrup


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Outstanding in many senses. The dishes, the recipes, the picks. Thanks.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Thank you ordo!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I've been meaning to do a persillade.  Do you find that the parsley flavor is too strong?


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Oh no, that persillade came out light and tasty Koukou, maybe all the more because I didn't put any garlic in it his time, which is very unusual for my doing since I love garlic. I even applied quite a thick layer of strong Dijon that did not overpower at all. And, I used curly parsley, the only one available.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Maybe that's why the parsley wasn't overpowering. Curly parsley tends to taste like nothing. I've never found a good use for it but this may be it. Adding good color and freshness but not overpowering.


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