Pork Fillet with Prunes

My face wrinkled up like a prune when I heard the name of this dish. But then I thought, ‘Have I ever actually eaten a prune?’ And I’m pretty sure the answer is no. Prunes suffer from a poor reputation, especially in the US, of only being useful to relieve constipation. But, considering they are merely dried plums and pork is often paired with something sweet, this combination shouldn’t have been so surprising.

The full name of the dish is Filet de Porc aux Pruneaux, Champignons de Paris Farcis et Pommes Dauphine. So, in addition to the pork fillet there were other accompaniments like stuffed mushrooms and Dauphine potato.

The pork fillet was sliced lengthwise to create a pocket, stuffed with whole pitted prunes, and tied to secure. After searing the pork on all sides in clarified butter we finished it in a 180C oven. Pork is one of those meats that doesn’t have a lot of ranges for doneness. It should be cooked to medium-well, which means not too much pink inside and a minimum internal temperature of 60C.

For the mushrooms, we stuffed Paris mushrooms, which are a white mushroom of approximately 4-5cm (~2 inches) in diameter. Once the stem is snapped out they have enough room for a filling. Here, we went really crazy and stuffed them with – more mushrooms! The stuffing was a classic Duxelle, which means finely chopped button mushrooms that are sweated down with finely chopped shallots in butter and seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, and a bit of lemon to prevent them from turning too brown. Once stuffed, we topped the Paris mushroom with a mixture of bread crumbs, parsley, and some melted butter to help toast the crumbs.

The potato accompaniment was Pommes Dauphine. This is a roasted potato where the flesh is scooped out and mixed with Choux Pastry, and then fried. Choux Pastry is the same dough used to make profiteroles, eclairs, beignets, churros, and many other delicious treats. Although it does not have much flavor on its own, its primary purpose is to puff up as it cooks. So, for Pommes Dauphine, the result is puffed mashed potato that is fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Yum!

And finally, the sauce was a Cafe au Lait pan sauce. Once the pork had cooked, we sweated down some onions in the same pan and de-glazed the pan drippings (we call these brown bits the ‘Suc’) with white wine, stock, and finished with cream.

Success: The plate looks nice!

Misfires: Oh so many! 😦 For a fillet, the pork needed to be constantly turned to ensure even cooking, plus it was slightly underdone. Mushrooms were underdone and breadcrumbs were not crispy enough. Potato was fried too long and needed more seasoning. Sauce had too much cream. Ahhh, not a good day!