Pork Loin with Pears and Onions

From Epicurious, imagine that! Hehe.. Original recipe name: Pork Tenderloin with Pears and Shallots. The recipe looked both delicious and easy, especially with reviewers recommended modifications. No photo because I forgot to photograph the delicious finished product.. Need to get better at that!!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dry thyme (real recipe calls for fresh chopped, but dry worked just fine)
• 1 1 1/4-pound pork loin (calls for tenderloin, but I had regular already in freezer)
• 1/2 onion cut into wedges (or 3 large shallots, each cut into 6 wedges through stem end)
• 3 unpeeled small pears, quartered, cored - ours were fairly hard which worked out well
• 2 Tbsp margarine (I'd have used butter but Dan's off dairy)
• 2 Tbsp whole-wheat flour
• 1 12oz can pear nectar
• 1/2 c broth of some kind
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation
Preheat oven to 425˚ or higher.

Brown pork in cast iron skillet with oil, garlic, onions, thyme. Add some pear nectar to prevent sticking. Add pears once pork is browned, and let cook on cut sides about 1 minute. Place skillet in oven and roast.

Check pork occasionally and add more pear nectar as the juices absorb.

Take out once pork reaches 145˚. I accidentally let it cook to about 160˚. (After about 15 minutes I turned up the oven temperature to 450˚ because I was getting impatient.) You could probably take it out at 140˚ and assume that it will keep heating up as you remove it. Remove pork and pears, place in dish and cover with foil.

Add the remaining nectar, some broth, margarine and flour to skillet and bring to simmer. (You're supposed to make a roux here, but I accidentally did it the wrong way although it turned out perfectly in the end.) Whisk up brown bits from skillet and continue to whisk until it thickens, about 5 minutes total. You could add salt and pepper to taste here, but I found that the pork itself was plenty salty without added salt here. But that's just me.

I served the gravy on the side, but you could just as well put it on the pork and pears to serve. ... And, done!

The Verdict: A Keeper
This recipe was delicious! Sweet, hearty, easy, and all around good. Served it with a salad and brown rice, although I forgot to serve the rice. Ah well..

Dan agrees that it's a keeper, although he's voiced his opinion that he doesn't think the word 'keeper' is valid as I am apparently moving in a forward-only direction with my cooking. And honestly he's right, I don't really like repeating recipes. It bores me. Anyway, that may change with more kids and less time, so it's wise to experiment now, right?