Dear Chef Kathleen,

I bought two pork tenderloins on sale and threw them in the freezer because I have no idea how to prepare them or what to cook with them. Can you help?

Sandy


Dear Sandy,

There's nothing really complicated about preparing pork tenderloin. It's very lean, highly flavorful and easy to deal with. There are no bones and there's very little fat.

To trim pork tenderloin, using a sharp knife, remove all fat and discard. Next, you'll need to remove the silver skin; a shiny patch of membrane that looks like tightly woven silken thread. Insert the tip of a sharp knife under the silver skin. A boning knife is ideal, but a slicing or pairing knife will work too.

Slice back and forth, angling the knife blade up toward the silver skin as opposed to down toward the meat. Trying to stretch the membrane tight as you go will help. Continue slicing back and forth until you've removed all of the silver skin. Discard.

You can saute and/or roast pork tenderloin whole, but I prefer to slice the pork tenderloin and then lightly pound it into thin "steaks." The portions look a whole lot bigger. The steaks cook up very quickly and are deliciously tender and moist.

To portion pork tenderloin evenly, first weigh it whole. If you don't have a kitchen scale, read the package to determine how much you bought and subtract a few ounces for waste. I usually allow 4 ounces per person and cut the tenderloin into 1- or 2-ounce pieces so each person gets two to four pieces of meat. Any less and it just doesn't look like enough on the plate.

Quicker than you can tear those little ketchup packets open with your teeth, you can be sitting down to a dinner fit for a king; pork tenderloin with white wine sauce. This recipe works equally well with pounded chicken or very thin fish filets, such as sole, Talapia or grouper.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Cut a 12-ounce pork tenderloin crosswise into 8 or 12 slices. One at a time, place pork slices, cut side up, between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a meat pounder or the bottom of a heavy sauce pot, pound pork to 1/8-inch thick. Work from the center out.

Sometimes, I buy pork tenderloin in bulk just so I can freeze a whole bunch of prepounded pieces. They defrost in just a few minutes and are really convenient on nights I'm too tired to cook.

Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Dredge pork slices in flour, shaking off all excess. Place pork slices on a rack or cookie sheet, but don't let them touch one another or the flour will gum up.

Cook pork slices in a 12-inch nonstick skillet (or the largest one you have). Over medium-high heat, heat just enough olive oil (about 2 teaspoons) to coat pan bottom, or use spray oil. When the pan is hot, but not smoking, add as many pork slices as you can fit into pan without overlapping.

Cook, turning once, until done, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Keep cooked slices warm on a place set in the oven.

Immediately after removing the last pork slices, turn heat to high, pour 1 cup of white wine into the pan and cook till it's reduced to 1/3 cup. Add 1/3 cup roughly chopped flat leaf parsley and salt and pepper to taste. There won't be tons of sauce, just enough to drizzle a little over each portion. Pour sauce over pork and serve immediately.

You don't have to use white wine, you can use chicken stock or apple juice or a combination of the two. You can also use lemon juice but you may have to cut the sharp flavor with a little chicken or vegetable stock.

There's also a wonderful alcohol-free, winelike product called Ver Jus. It's made from wine grapes and is tart with a hint of sweetness. It's available in gourmet markets near the wines or sometimes near the vinegars or fancy bottled gourmet mustards and capers. Try it in place of wine in any recipe. If you think it might work, it probably will.

kd@chefkathleen.com