Pork Medalions with Double Apple Sauce & Maple Sweet Potatoes

It’s pretty warm here right now – in the seventies – but the calendar says October, the leaves are changing and starting to fall, and for me that means fall. Along with that, it means fall flavors. Nothing says fall like apples, so this hit on all cylendars.
I was going to make this dish last night because I needed something that I could cook based upon what I had in the house (I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer, apples in the fridge and the first apple cider of the season too) because I didn’t know if Chris was going to get the food shopping done before dinner or not. Then it turned out that Sammi’s friend was sleeping over, and Chris could get to the market, so we opted for something safe last night (hamburgers) and to make this tonight, with the now defrosted pork tenderloin.

As far as the Sweet Potatoes, well, I bought a whole bunch at the farm market Friday afternoon (they scream fall to me too) and we always have maple syrup around, so that was a no brainer.

Pork Medalions with Double Apple Sauce and Maple Sweet Potatoes

The pork comes in at 5 points per serving and the potatoes come in at 2 points per serving. I served this along with some sauteed broccoli raab. Oh, and next time, I may toss the potatoes once or so during the cooking.

Pork Medallions with Double-Apple Sauce

1 cup apple cider
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges (about 14 ounces)
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut crosswise into 8 (1/2-inch-thick) slices
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Pour cider into a large nonstick skillet; bring to a boil. Add apples. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until apples are barely tender. Remove apples from pan with a slotted spoon, and place apples in a medium bowl. Cook cider until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes). Pour reduced cider over apples; set aside.

Sprinkle pork evenly with salt and pepper. Wipe pan clean with a damp paper towel.

Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from heat. Add the apple mixture, half-and-half, and rosemary. Garnish with fresh parsley, if desired. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 2 pork medallions, 4 apple wedges, and about 1/4 cup sauce)

CALORIES 259 (26% from fat); FAT 7.5g (sat 3.5g,mono 2.8g,poly 0.6g); IRON 1.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 85mg; CALCIUM 45mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.9g; SODIUM 360mg; PROTEIN 25.2g; FIBER 1.4g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2007

Maple Sweet Potatoes

5 cups (1/2-inch-thick) slices peeled sweet potato (about 2 pounds)
Cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350°.

Arrange half of potato slices in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle with half of the salt. Arrange remaining potato slices on top; sprinkle with remaining salt. Pour syrup over potatoes. Cover and bake at 350° for 1 hour or until tender.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup)

CALORIES 114 (3% from fat); FAT 0.4g (sat 0.1g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.1g); IRON 0.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 25mg; CARBOHYDRATE 26.8g; SODIUM 158mg; PROTEIN 1.3g; FIBER 2.5g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2000