family & food fridays! pork tenderloin with spiced plum sauce

So, as you probably noticed, I took a little break from my 'Family & Food Fridays!' posts for a couple weeks. I was totally planning to post this recipe last week but time just slipped away from me! I'm sure none of you know what that's like....(insert sarcasm).

Anywho, I made this meal a couple weeks ago and got the recipe from Taste of Home's Ultimate Halloween magazine that's in stands now. I wanted to make something to fit the season so when I saw the picture I thought I'd give it a try.

What you'll need:

2 lbs medium plums, halved and pitted
2/3 c cider vinegar
1 c packed brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp each ground cloves, cardamom and allspice
2 pork tenderloins (1 lb each)
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Rinse the plums in cool water.



Next slice and pit plums.



In a large saucepan, bring plums and vinegar to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10-15 minutes or until tender.



Cool slightly; transfer to a food processor (I used my blender). Cover and process for 1-2 minutes or until blended; strain.



Straining the plums



Strained plums



Return plum mixture to the pan; stir in the brown sugar and seasonings.

Sugar and spices





Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.



Next, place pork on a rack in a roasting pan; sprinkle with pepper. Set aside 1/2 cup plum sauce for serving. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over pork. (I don't have a roasting pan so I just placed the pork directly into a baking dish, it turned out just fine.)



To got with the pork, I made mashed potatoes and a cranberry fruit medley. The recipe for the cranberry medley called for fresh or frozen cranberries and since my store was out of both, I just opted for dried. I'm sure this dish would have turned out much better if I'd had the fresh or frozen but whatcha gonna do?

What you need:

1 pkg (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed
2 c chopped peeled tart apples
1 large navel orange, peeled, sectioned and finely chopped
Sugar substitute equivalent to 2/3 c sugar
1/3 c chopped dried apricots
1/3 c golden raisins
3 Tbsp cider vinegar
3 Tbsp orange juice

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients.



Cook, uncovered, orver medium heat until the berries pop, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.



This mixture is supposed to be a dark pinkish color which I suppose comes from the fresh or frozen cranberries. The picture in the magazine looked delish. Mine mostly stayed it's original color because of the dried cranberries.

Transfer to a small bowl; cover and refrigerate until chilled.

I also made mashed potatoes and you can get that recipe here. I made these for my dad's 60th birthday and posted about them here.

Boiling water, posting because I thought it was a cool pic! haha!





Here is the finished and sliced pork tenderloin. Very very yummy!



And the whole spread!



This was a very yummy dinner and we had a nice time sitting down together chatting and laughing...mostly at Evan. He's so funny!

Family activity:

Tomorrow night, we're heading out to our church's annual Harvest Festival. I'm really excited to take Evan this year. Our church also has a school ministry so the festival is actually put on by the school. I just know Evan's going to have a blast!

Hope you all have a fabulous Friday and weekend!

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