Pork w/ Apple-Sage Sauce

In preparation for writing this post, I say to Steph "Hon, can you go get me my cookbook from the kitchen?" Needless to say, I could feel the look of incredulity burning itself into the back of my head before I appended "Hon, can you go get me my America's Test Kitchen cookbook from the kitchen?" I am so smrt. (Note: Steph just asked me "you're rooting for Tampa?" before quailing under my look of incredulity. We're both smrt.)

So the exact recipe name from the cookbook is Roast Pork Tenderloin with Lowfat Apple and Sage Cream Sauce. Here's the full recipe (I halved it because I'm cooking for 2):

2 12 oz pork tenderloins, trimmed (and halved crosswise if it doesn't fit into your saute pan)
salt & pepper
vegetable oil
1 Granny Smith, peeled, cored and sliced thinly
1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup apple cider
3 tbsp brandy
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
2 tbsp fresh sage, minced
3 tbsp light cream cheese
2 tsp cider vinegar

Preheat to 450. Pat the tenderloins dry and season with salt and epper. Heat enough oil in a saute pan to film the bottom, and brown the tenderloins on all sides, about 8 minutes. Be careful to watch your heat so you don't burn the fond! Remove the pan from the heat, put the tenderloins in a baking dish and roast for 12 minutes, flipping the tenderloins halfway. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and tent.

While the pork is in the oven, add the apples, onions and salt to the saute pan and heat, covered, over medium-low heat until the onions are soft and the apples are tender, about 8 minutes. Off heat, add the brandy* and cider, then return to heat and scrape all the tasty fond from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the broth and sage, raise the heat to medium-high and simmer, reducing until thickened, about 5 minutes. Pour any pork juices from the pork into the pan, reduce heat to medium-low, whisk in the cream cheese and cook until thickened. Off heat, stir in vinegar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Slice the pork thinly, spoon the sauce over the pork, and serve.

I was trying to figure out what to serve this dish with, and sweet potatoes is usually my go-to starch with pork, but I figured that it would compete with the flavor of the sauce. Instead, I went with wide egg noodles, which was a great choice because they were delicious when I spooned some of the sauce over them on the side. I caught Steph wiping extra sauce from the pan with her fingers - proof positive this recipe was definitely a keeper!

*Even though the pan is not hot enough to ignite the brandy, I've gotten into the habit of always adding brandy off-heat, just in case.