Tenderloin with Fig Sauce

With Felicia Mohan

Figs are used extensively in Mediterranean and Middle East cooking. You may have heard of Italian sweets such as Fig and Ricotta Tarts, Fig and Pistachio Biscotti and of course Italian Fig Cookies. But they are also used for more savory foods, such as this Pork Tenderloin marinated in an onion and fig mixture and then served over couscous with an onion and fresh fig sauce.

If you can get them, there is nothing quite like the unique taste and texture of a fresh fig. They can be eaten whole, skin, seeds and flesh. Since fresh figs are one of the most perishable fruits, they should be purchased only a day or two in advance of when you are planning on eating them. Look for figs that have a rich, deep color and are plump and tender, but not mushy. Ripe figs should be kept in the refrigerator where they will stay fresh for about two days. California figs are available from June through September; while some European varieties are available through autumn.

Dried figs are available throughout the year and you can use dried figs in most recipes. The ripe fig fruit does not transport well, and once picked does not keep well. Because of this, the majority of figs are dried, either by exposure to sunlight or through an artificial process, creating a sweet and nutritious dried fruit that can be enjoyed throughout the year. When purchasing dried figs, make sure that they are still relatively soft, free of mold, and have a mellow, pleasant smell.

Figs can trace their history back to the earliest of times with mentions in the Bible and other ancient writings. Figs were held in such esteem by the Greeks that they created laws forbidding the export of the best quality figs. Figs were also revered in ancient Rome where they were thought of as a sacred fruit.

They were brought to the Western Hemisphere by the Spaniards in the early 16th century. In the late 19th century, when Spanish missionaries established the mission in San Diego, California, they also planted fig trees. Today, California remains one of the largest producers of figs in addition to Turkey, Greece, Portugal and Spain.

Ingredients

Two 1 ½ pound pork tenderloins
1 large Zip lock bag

For the Marinade:
½ sweet Vidalia onion chopped finely to a puree like consistence
4 tablespoon salted butter
1 ½ tablespoon dark brown sugar
¾ cup fig filling
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Agave

For the Sauce:
1 large onion chopped into bite size pieces
2 tablespoons salted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup fig filling
4-6 fresh figs cut into eight’s

For the Couscous:
1 box garlic herb couscous
½ cup chopped red pepper
½ cup chopped yellow pepper
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven 375 degrees

1. Place onions into a mini chopper and pulse chop until onions are almost pureed.
2. Melt butter in a small frying pan, add onions and cook over medium to high heat until onions are translucent.
3. Remove onions from heat and place them back into mini chopper.
4. Place all remaining marinade ingredients into mini chopper and pulse 3 to 4 times to mix all marinade ingredients together.
5. Place both tenderloins into a large Zip lock bag, add marinade, seal bag and give it a few shakes to mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (I prefer overnight).
6. Remove Zip lock bag with tenderloins from refrigerator and set on counter for 15-20 minutes to take the chill out of the tenderloin.
7. Place both tenderloins into a glass baking/roasting pan and discard the marinade.
8. Place tenderloins into preheated 375 degree F. oven and bake 25 minutes or until internal temperature of the tenderloins are 160 degrees.
9. Remove tenderloins from oven and cover with foil let them rest on counter for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
10. While tenderloins are resting prepare the sauce.

For the Sauce:
1. Melt 2 tablespoons salted butter over med/high heat, add chopped onions, cook 2 to 3 minutes.
2. Add olive oil and cook 1 to 2 minutes until onions are translucent.
3. Lower heat to medium, add fig filling, chicken stock and continue to cook until sauce reduces by half.
4. Fold fresh fig pieces into sauce, remove from heat, and set aside.

For the Couscous:
1. Follow instructions on box (I prefer to use the microwave instructions).
2. Add White Balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and peppers to cooked couscous and mix well.

Plating your pork tenderloin:
1. Fix couscous on serving platter.
2. Slice tenderloins ¼ inch thick on a diagonal, and arrange on top of couscous.
3. Pour warm sauce over tenderloins.

Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of Felicia (Ciaramitaro) Mohan, 2011.

From "Food For Thought" Column by Heather Atwood: Felicia Mohan lives in a sparkling new house in Gloucester, and has twin 11-year-olds: Amanda, playing 12-year-old tennis and ranked No. 32 in New England, and B.J., a catcher for AAU Baseball who will play in the Gloucester All-Star 11-year-old team. Felicia looks like a beautiful, modern mother, struggling to get her kids where they need to go while keeping up with life at home, but Felicia is also adamant about preserving her family's Sicilian heritage, particularly the dishes her grandmother, another Felicia, prepared. Felicia Mohan's grandfathers were named Joseph Salvatore Ciaramitaro — both of them, spelled the exact same way. One Joseph fished first from his boat The Benjamin and Josephine, which was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Maine, and then he fished from his Benjamin C, named after his father-in-law, Benjamin Cucuru. Later he founded Capt'n Joe's Lobster Co. on the wharf in Gloucester, now run by Felicia's brother, Joey, and cousin Frankie. Felicia's other grandfather owned Pat's Center Grocery, that not only sold groceries but provided all the fishing boats with food for their long trips, delivering the "speza," as the supplies were called, to each boat before it left port.
Grandpa with the wharf was married to Felicia's namesake. Holidays at this Felicia's house began a full week ahead as all the women in the family gathered at her home, which had two full kitchens, to cook together. When school let out at 3, the children went straight to Grandma's house that week because that's where their mothers were cooking. Not only were these women making all the traditional Italian holiday foods, from appetizers such as octopus salad, a standard which the men insisted upon at every holiday, to a wealth of Italian cookies, homemade bread, and New World foods such as pies, but the women were also making ordinary dinners those weeknights for all their husbands and children. Felicia and Joseph have passed away. Now, holiday meals are at young Felicia's, where 35 to 40 people come to celebrate. Felicia, like her grandmother, still sets a formal table with china and linen; her custom-built table seats 25, with two more tables in the great room for overflow, replacing her grandmother's enormous table that started in the kitchen, extended through the dining room, the hallway and ended at the living room. In her large, creamy, new kitchen, Felicia still makes dishes like braciole, spiedini, and olive gonzathe. She makes videos for this newspaper showing how to prepare her grandmother's special bread crumbs, "mudiga," with chicken and steak. This past December, Felicia gathered all the cousins together to make their great-grandmother's Santa Lucia dessert, "cuccia," a vanilla pudding made with wheatberries which the playful great-grandmother had always encouraged the children to eat in a race. Contact Heather at heatheraa@aol.com. Her blog is at gloucestertimes.com/foodforthought