Since it is FABULOUS Fruit week for #HGEATS and since cherries are one of my favorite fruits (can you tell?), I have been thinking a lot about cherries this week. Black Cherry ice cream with chocolate chips makes my heart go pitter-patter and I love a good cherry pie with a thick crust but using cherries as an ingredient for savory dishes is really where I get excited!
I found this recipe via the June 2011 Bon Appetit and the simplicity of the recipe was perfect for what I needed this week. If I can make scrumptious meals in under an hour – sign me up! Busy people – THIS is the perfect recipe for you!
I made very few changes from the original recipe – I added garlic to the marinade and the salsa; I used sweet peppers instead of hot peppers but added some garlic chili sauce to add some heat for my serving; and I used frozen cherries since they are not in season yet. The grill time was perfection (registering 145 in the center with a thermometer) and the flavor blew us away! **Next time, I would double the salsa recipe since three of us ate almost all of it and there is still plenty of pork tenderloin left.
The pork was juicy and medium rare in the center (slightly pink) – there was just enough char to make it interesting and pork and cherries are a perfect combo. This will be a forever keeper recipe for me, maybe just changing the salsa to suit the season. After this, I can never have pork tenderloins any other way than grilled – they are too good!
Do you have a favorite savory recipe that incorporates fruit?? Leave me a comment or join us for #HGEATS Fabulous Fruit on Wednesday and bring your recipes!
- 1 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- ½ cup minced shallots, divided
- 6 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced and divided
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 pork tenderloins, about 2½ pounds total
- ½ pound fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted, halved
- 1 fresh Fresno chile, red jalapeño, or Holland chile, thinly sliced crosswise – I used 3 yellow sweet peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Prepare a grill to medium-high heat. Combine ½ cup cilantro, ¼ cup minced shallots, 4 tablespoons lime juice, and olive oil in a resealable plastic bag. Add pork; seal bag and turn to coat. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes, turning occasionally.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining ½ cup cilantro, ¼ cup shallots, 1 clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons lime juice, cherries, peppers and/or chiles, and olive oil in a medium bowl. Season salsa lightly with salt and pepper and set aside to let flavors meld.
- Remove tenderloins from marinade and season generously with salt and pepper.
- Grill tenderloins, turning frequently, until a thermometer inserted into meat registers 145°, about 15 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Cut into thin slices and serve with salsa.
I’m so glad you posted this. I love cherry salsa. I found a recipe for it in a newspaper once and started putting it on fish (it went so well with white fish). Not sure I know where the recipe is anymore, so I’ll try yours, which looks fantastic!
Cheers
Katherine @ eggton recently posted..You Don’t Always Get What You Want, And Sometimes You Get Burpy Cucumbers
Hi Katherine! YAY – I am so glad that you found us and the cherry salsa – we send much cherry happiness and many kisses for Thunder! We think your blog rocks!