Pork Tenderloin in Puff Pastry and Apple Galette

What's for dinner?

Sometimes I don't bother with a cookbook or a recipe. Instead I like looking inside the freezer at what's available. It can be inspirational. I don't mean the frozen turkey bones draped in icicles left over from Christmas. That just means it's time to clean out the freezer! Ah.  Package of puff pastry. Pork tenderloin. Hmm. There's a jar of jerk seasoning in the fridge. And since the puff pastry would really be too much for one tenderloin,  I'll have enough to make an apple galette as well out of the remaining dough. Done.

Pork Tenderloin in Puff Pastry 

1 pork tenderloin (Remove the silver with a boning knife)
1-2 teaspoons Walker's Wood Jamaican Jerk Seasoning
2/3 package puff pastry
oil

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Cover a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Rub the jerk seasoning all over the tenderloin and let sit for about 1 hour. Pan sear the tenderloin until it is golden brown all over. Roll out the puff pastry to 1/8 inch thickness and place the tenderloin in the middle. Fold up and pinch the ends closed. Put seam side down on the prepared pan. Brush lightly with oil. Bake about 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cool slightly. Slice and serve with a brown gravy.

A galette is really a one-crust apple pie so I adapted Mom's apple pie recipe here. 

Apple Galette

3 Granny Smith apples peeled, cored, and sliced (Tip: use a melon baller to scoop out the core)
juice of 1 small lime
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons flour
oil
sanding sugar or granulated sugar for sprinkling (optional)
1/3 package puff pastry

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Peel, cut apples in half from pole to pole, then core and cut the apples into 1/4 inch thick slices. Set aside in a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Add to the apple slices and toss to coat. Set aside.  (Lick the spoon afterwards. Yum.) Line a rimmed baking sheet with a sheet of parchment paper. Set aside.

Roll out the pastry dough into a 12 inch (more or less) round that's about 1/8 inch thick. Put the pastry round in the center of the baking sheet. Mound the apple slices in the center, juices and all. Leave about a 2 inch border. Fold up the edges and overlap as needed to make a bowl to hold in the apples. Brush edges lightly with water to seal and sprinkle with sanding or granulated sugar, if using. Bake until the pastry is golden brown about 25-35 minutes in a convection oven. Cool slightly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

An apple galette is a really easy mid-week dessert to make if you don't have a lot of time or if you're recovering from recent foot surgery! Now if I could only figure out what to do with 2 kg of frozen peas...