Poached Pork Tenderloin with Couscous and Green Beans

Every 9 days, I have a practical assessment in my culinary labs. This “exam” is the true test of what skills you have taken from each class. In my latest practical, I was on a team of four and our challenge was to make a healthy dish while still respecting the flavor profile of Latin America. We were assigned pork, green beans and couscous; with which we could flavor any way we wanted to (inside the boundaries of our flavor profile), so long as the techniques used were healthy. This dish is what we came up with.

The pork was poached in a court bouillon (flavorful liquid used for poaching) that we came up with ourselves. It consisted of vegetable stock, orange juice and crushed canned tomatoes as the base. We then added cumin, oregano, coriander, chipotle chilies and dried ancho chilies to give flavor and spice to the pork. After infusing the liquid with these spices and chilies, we strained it and poached the pork loin in it until it reached our desired temp. After, we seared the meat for a little color and flavor. The best part was that it is healthy for you because almost no fat was added to the protein during the cooking process. It turned out flavorful, delicious and healthy.

For the green beans, we steamed them until they were al dente and bright green. We then toasted cumin and coriander to add another dimension to the spices. After the beans had steamed, we sauteed them in a little oil, the toasted spices, cubed mango, and orange wedges. These beans turned out pretty well and had great flavor from the fruit and spices. Also, the only fat added to them was the minimal oil used during the saute.

The couscous was simple but very tasty. We simply boiled the couscous and tossed it with cilantro, lime juice, lime zest, and a little bit of adobo sauce. This turned out to be a good balance between the spice and the acidity and was a great addition to the dish.

The sauce we made was a roasted tomato and chipotle salsa. We roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic in the oven until soft. Then, we skinned and seeded the tomatoes and blended all the vegetables, plus some cilantro, together. After, we added some chipotle peppers and reconstituted guajillo peppers to the mixture and blended until smooth. This was delicious with the pork because it complemented the flavors we put into the court bouillon.

Overall, this dish was delicious and was one of my favorite things I’ve made since being at Johnson & Wales. It was really eye opening to see that it is possible to make such a delicious dish, while having it still be good for you.



Recipe:

Pork - 1 lbs
Court Bouillon

• 2 1/2 quarts vegetable stock 
• 1 quart orange juice 
• 1 pint tomato product (canned crushed preferred) 
• 2 Tbl. spoons cumin, toasted and ground 
• 2 Tbl. spoons coriander, toasted and ground 
• 1 Tbl. spoon oregano, dried  
• 4 ounces chipotle chillies, chopped in adobo  
• 2 dried ancho chillies, rough chop 
• oil as needed for searing 

Green beans

• 2 cups green beans, steamed 
• Coriander, toasted and ground 
• Cumin, toasted and ground 
• 1 mango, cubed 
• 1 orange, segmented 
• oil as needed for sautéing 

Couscous

• 2 cups boiled couscous 
• 1 1/2 ounces chopped cilantro 
• 2 limes, juiced and zested 
• 2 ounces adobo sauce (no chilies) 
• Optional: add steamed veggies for color and to add interest 

Salsa 

• 6 roma tomatoes, roasted, skinned and seeded 
• 1 onion, roasted 
• 1 head of garlic, roasted 
• 1 ounce cilantro 
• 2 guajillo chillies, reconstituted in boiling water 
• 2 ounces chipotle chilies in adobo 
• Optional: court bouillon liquid can be used to help thing if necessary