"Poke" With Figs

A reader's recipe for the fig jam I found under the tree.

Go down to Publix and get yourself a pork tenderloin. Be sure it is a plain one and not marinated in something.

Dry it (because it makes it brown better) Put some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) in a pan and quickly sear the tenderloin on all sides.Remove tenderloin and set aside. Geglaze the pan with OJ (or white wine) and save.

Deglaze= heat up pan,pour in OJ in and scrape all the stuff (fond=juices/pieces of meat, etc) off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and set aside.

Put seared tenderloin in a preheated oven and cook at 350 for a few minutes, maybe 25 (depending on how pink you like your pork).

The last few (5) minutes brush on some fig jam.

Heat the OJ and reserves (pan drippings or fond) to serve as gravy.

Remove pork from oven and let sit 5 min before slicing into medallions. Slice, plate up, and drizzle with OJ gravy.

Nice side dishes are white rice and sautéed pineapple rings.

It's really very versatile but you gotta be careful and not overcook it. Like pork chops and other pork that doesn't have alot of fat it can dry out quickly and become tough. If you pull it out of the oven and it's too pink, don't worry, just slice it and put the medallions in the pan and cook them to your desired doneness.

Pork roast, Boston butts, picnic hams and pork shoulders have so much fat you can cook them r-e-a-l slow for hours and the meat will fall apart (a.k.a. Bar-b-que) but we'll save those recipes for the 4th of July.

Bon Appetit!