Hickory Smoked Pork Loin with a Blackberry Sage Sauce

This recipe adds a bright spring flare to your average pork loin.

Another sous vide recipe, because I don’t think there is a better way to prepare pork.

You can also follow the exact same recipe for a pork tenderloin. Although the names are close, a pork loin and a pork tenderloin are a different cut of meat. Both equally as good with the blackberry sage sauce.

If you’re following this recipe from my instructions, you’ll need a few kitchen tools.

I’ve included links to each of these things below.

· A sous vide

· A vacuum sealer (optional, you can drop the pork loin in a gallon size Ziplock bag if you don’t vacuum seal)

· A cast-iron grill pan/ grill for finish

· Indoor smoker (optional, but I am loving this thing)

· Fine mesh sieve (if you don’t have one, may be a good thing to add to your shopping list but you can use a coffee filter for now)

I decided to serve with roasted red potatoes and sautéed summer squash but any roasted vegetable of your choice will work great!

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Breville Smoking Gun

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/b13dd6_77f218e561c447bcadcd01bb28a86160/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Wine Paring: Pork Loin and Pork Tenderloin pair nicely with a Pinot Noir, a Zinfandel, or a Super Tuscan

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Ingredients:

• Pork Loin

• Salt (I used 1 tsp of himalyan for each side of the pork loin)

• Pepper

• Butter

Blackberry Sauce

• 2 tbsp minced shallots

• 3 cups of blackberries

• 1/2 tsp of sage

• 14 oz of chicken broth

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• 1 1/2 tsp of sugar

• 1 tbsp of butter

• 3/4 tsp salt

• 1 tsp pepper

Instructions

1. Pat the pork loin dry with a paper towel and season generously with salt and pepper

2. Vacuum seal (or place in Ziplock bag) and submerge in Sous Vide bath set to 140 degrees

3. I let my pork sit in the sous vide bath for 3 hours, but I would suggest leaving in the water for 2-4 hours

4. Put your cast iron grill pan (or skillet or grill) on medium high heat and melt a tbsp of butter to help form a golden sear on your pork loin

5. Pull the pork loin out of sous vide and pat dry before dropping in the grill pan

6. Let the pork loin sear for about 5 minutes on both sides. You want the temperature of the pork to rise to 145 degrees for medium rare or higher if you prefer

7. After you sear the pork, transfer to foil to let it rest for a few minutes before smoking if you choose to do so - if you plan to smoke the pork loin, place hickory chips in the Breville smoker gun, light and infuse the pork with smoke for 3-5 minutes

For the blackberry sage sauce:

1. In a medium pot (I used a heavy bottom, medium dutch oven), place on medium-high heat, spray with olive oil, and sauté the shallots for about 4-minutes or until they soften

2. Add the blackberries, chicken broth and sage and bring to a boil; reduce heat to a simmer and leave for 20-minutes or until the blackberries break down

3. Press the blackberry mixture through a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and throw away the solids that remain, returning the liquid back into the pan

4. Stir in vinegar and sugar, bringing to a boil cooking until it begins to thicken and reduce (about 5 minutes)

5. Stir in the butter until it melts and 1/4 tsp of salt

6. Pour over pork loin and enjoy!