Fall is here and the pomegranate tree has lots of fruit. So, now becomes the fun part – what to do with all of those lovely pomegranates. This dish is a start. I present to you a marinated pork tenderloin that is roasted and served with a pomegranate sauce finished with fresh pomegranate arils and chopped parsley for a little burst of flavor and wonderful color. Looks great, doesn’t it?
OK, as you know, we have a pomegranate tree. Last year was the first year we really got pomegranates off the tree as it produced roughly 22 pomegranates. Sadly, we had a neighbor who was pilfering our tree so we only got to eat 12. It really irked me, too. This year, I have no idea how many pomegranates the tree produced. I know we have harvested at least 24 and there are another 22 on the tree.
Unbelievably, however, we have lost 1/3 of the fruit to some critters. They are either mice, rats, squirrels, birds or a combination of two or more of them. Apparently, in times of drought like we have been experiencing critters take to fruit trees for a water source. Once the critters open the pomegranates, the birds then come in. It was pretty amazing to see a pomegranate shell completely hollowed out on the inside. Oh well, as long as the tree continues to proliferate I guess we can afford to share our bounty with the critters of the area.
We love pomegranates. We eat them for breakfast with our yogurt, sprinkle them on salads (here, here and here) , dress eggplants with them, use them in chile rellenos, in seafood dishes (here and here) and in poultry dishes (here and here). This time we used the pomegranates with a pork dish that is absolutely delicious. The sweet tanginess of the pomegranate couples with the salty savoriness of the soy sauce to provide you a taste tantalizing flavor sensation. You definitely need to give this dish a try. This is what we did.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup Pomegranate Juice (fresh is much sweeter and cleaner tasting)
- 1/4 cup orange blossom honey
- 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp ginger, minced
- 3 tsp garlic (3 cloves), minced
- 1 pork tenderloin (roughly 2 lbs.)
- 2 – 3 Tbsp oil (we used a chile infused macadamia nut oil)
- 1 whole fresh pomegranate, seeded, for garnish
- 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped, for garnish
Instruction
First thing first, if you’re going to use fresh pomegranate juice, make the pomegranate juice. (If using POM, skip this step but use an additional 2 Tbsp honey) Add the arils to a food processor.
Puree the arils.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve of Chinoise.
Set aside.
In a small mixing bowl, add the soy sauce
with the garlic
and ginger
Whisk together.
Place the pork tenderloin into a baking dish or a sealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over the pork.
Cover or seal and marinate for not less than 1 nor more than 4 hours.
Pour oil into a heavy bottom skillet, preferably cast iron, over high heat.
Remove pork tenderloin from marinade and place in hot skillet.
Sear the pork tenderloin on all sides.
Place pork tenderloin in oven and pour remaining marinade over the top.
Roast for 20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 142-45 F for a medium (or to your desired doneness).
While the pork tenderloin is cooking, in a 1 qt saucepan, mix together the pomegranate juice,
the cornstarch
honey
and red pepper flakes.
Place over medium heat and simmer until a nice syrup forms. Set aside until pork tenderloin is cooked.
Remove pork tenderloin from oven and skillet. Tent and allow pork tenderloin to rest.
Put the skillet over medium-low heat and add the pomegranate syrup mixture to deglaze the pan and form the pomegranate sauce, scraping up any pork and tasty bits.
Allow to thicken to desired consistency.
Slice pork tenderloin on an angle.
Put on a plate and spoon sauce over the top.
Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds
and a little chopped parsley for added color.
Serve & enjoy!
REMCooks 
Richard, that looks amazing!! I am a huge fan of pomegranate molasses, so that reduced sauce sounds like heaven with the tender pork and crunchy pomegranate arils (by the way, I didn’t know that was the ‘official term’ until today, thanks for teaching me something!). Sorry to hear that you have a dodgy thief of a neighbour. That would’ve riled me up also. Hopefully this year they’ve kept their hands off!!
Thanks, Laura, for the nice compliment. 🙂 Pomegranate goes so well with so many things. It was divine in the sauce to accompany the pork. As for the dodgy pilfering neighbor, so far the only brazen pomegranate thieves have been the critters but the tree produced beautifully this year so it was OK to share a few (20+) with the wildlife.
the dish looks delicious! I am jealous of your pomegranate tree, but I am hoping I will be able to find some slightly cheaper in LA than they were in Chicago 😉
Thanks, Andreea. The tree has been a lot of fun. It’s planted where it grows beautifully but it gets in the way of the sidewalk and driveway which annoys the Baby Lady. It will get a trimming this winter to tame some of the wild branches. As for the cost, I would think they would be a little cheaper in LA inasmuch as they grow abundantly in California. We pay $2.99@ in DFW so we’re truly thankful for the tree. 🙂
I’m salivating!! Jealous of your pomegranate tree too… Nearly as exciting, we planted 2 passionfruit vines 2 years ago, and they have their first flowers!
Hi, Jenny. Thanks for the compliment. 🙂 I had a couple of passion fruit vines about 20 years ago. They produced the most spectacular flowers but the fruit was very small and more or less inedible. Hopefully, yours will produced tons of edible fruit. 🙂
I have a friend who recently gifted me with pomegranate molasses, I bet that would use up quite a few of them. Have you tried pomegranate guacamole? It’s very pretty and very tasty too http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/2010/07/24/corn-pomegranate-guacamole/. I’ve used pomegranate in a few recipes on the blog, it’ll come up with a search.
Pomegranate and pork sound delightful, I’ll have to keep my eyes open for some sales, they are usually quite expensive here. How rude that your neighbour steals your fruit, I would have a word or two with them.
Hi, Eva. To make pomegranate molasses in any useful amount you would need 4 pomegranates, at least. At that point, it’s cheaper to buy POM which is a very good product BTW. Regardless, a gift of pomegranate molasses is a very nice gift, indeed. As for guacamole with pomegranate seeds, I have never considered that before so now I must try it. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks Richard, I originally made the guacamole because I loved how beautifully the pomegranate seeds glittered like little rubies, but the flavour combo is quite exceptional and is always a bit hit at parties.
Wow, your pork tenderloin with pomegranate sauce looks divine! I wouldn’t mind coming for supper!
Hi, Laila. Thanks for the very nice compliment. Anytime you’re in DFW you are more than welcome for dinner but if you want pomegranates you need to come in late September or October. 🙂
This sound delightful! I just love pomegranates. I got totally addicted to them when we lived in Teheran when I was 10 years old. They grow the biggest, sweetest pomegranates over there! It’s what I always took to the American Independent School I attended for recess snack. Of course, then I had black stained fingers the rest of the day. 🙂
Hi, Peggy. Pomegranates are a big part of middle eastern cuisine so I’m not surprised you found beautiful pomegranates in Teheran. They are such a wonderful fruit although they do stain anything they touch including your fingers. 🙂 We open them up and remove the arils and put them in plastic bags for later use. Most of them we have simply snacked on at breakfast or during the day. They are so flavorful.
This is another winning dish you’ve shared, Richard. Pork is such a great meat for using fruit-based sauces. I’ve never thought to make my own pomegranate juice, probably because they are costly here. Just last week, I saw a display and they were $2 apiece. Who says money doesn’t grow on trees? You’ve got a gold mine in your backyard. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your recipes. Richard.
Thanks, John, for the very nice compliment. If you found pomegranates for $2@ that is cheaper than I find them in DFW. I saw them this past weekend for $2.99@. Baby Lady and I always chuckle when we see them for sale because they ARE expensive. We really love the little tree and were very blessed with its prolific production this year. 🙂
Ah now I understand your pilfering neighbor…
We;; BAH HUMBUG on your pilfering neighbors, pffft! This recipe sounds divine. I would order this in any restaurant.
Thanks, Kathryn. We were really irritated with the neighbors but this year they have left the tree alone and we really have enjoyed it. 🙂
This looks great, Richard! I’ve never bought pomegranates yet, but I will now. I find the store-bought juice a bit astringent, so I hope I understood correctly that freshly made juice is better. The dish makes me think of Christmas, it must be because of the red and green colors. I bet this will be great with iberico sous-vide 🙂
Thanks, Stefan. The fresh juice is MUCH better than POM; however, for certain uses (syrups and molasses) POM is perfectly fine. This was a wonderful sauce that went beautifully with the pork and the pomegranate arils always make dinner very festive. 🙂
Just made fresh pomegranate juice for the first time as per your instructions above, and I *LOVE* it. It is indeed MUCH better than the bottled stuff, which I don’t like. In fact it’s so good I’m gonna do a post just about the juice 🙂 thanks Richard!
PS is there an easy way to get the arils out?
We have yet to find an easy way and we’ve read just about every way there is. Some say if you split the pomegranate and tap in with a wooden spoon, he arils will fall to. I have tried countless times and never gotten it to work. We found the best way is to pull the blossom end off and cut the top off close to the top. Then score the pomegranate longitudinally. Next, pull at the top and bottom and the pomegranate will split in half. Then you can break it into smaller pieces and the pomegranates come out a bit easier. That’s the best I can tell you.
That is basically how I did it. It is also advisable to wear an apron 😉 Another trick I used that I saw online is to put the arils with some of the white stuff that clings to them under water, as the arils will sink and the white stuff will float.
Yep. We’ve done that, too.
Tapping with a wooden spoon does work for me, although it is more like whacking. Check out http://stefangourmet.com/2013/12/06/how-to-get-the-seeds-arils-out-of-a-pomegranate/
I’ll try it once again when we get some pomegranates. I still have 2 bags in the fridge from the last harvest. They keep refrigerated for about a month. I will be making pomegranate molasses today with the last bit or arils.
My problem with the whacking the daylights out of the pomegranate is it bursts the aril membranes so you lose some juice. We use the pomegranate arils for so many things. We use them as garnish for soups, salads, main dishes, sides, desserts and even cocktails. We also really enjoy just eating them as they are. I love grabbing a handful of the arils and just popping them into my mouth. They are a wonderful snack. 🙂 The little tree brings us a lot of pleasure.