PORK CORNETS WITH SOUR-CHERRY SAUCE

Pork Cornets with Sour-Cherry Sauce image

Yield Makes about 40 hors d'oeuvres

Number Of Ingredients 13

2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins
1/2 pound shallots (about 7), peeled and halved lengthwise
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup dried sour cherries (5 ounces)
1/2 cup sugar
2 (5-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary
Garnish: 40 (1-inch) sprigs fresh rosemary or wooden picks
Special Equipment
an electric coffee/spice grinder; an instant-read thermometer

Steps:

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
Very finely grind fennel seeds, salt, and peppercorns in grinder, then rub all over pork.
Toss shallots with oil in a 13- by 9-inch flameproof roasting pan, then nestle tenderloins among shallots (without crowding) and roast until thermometer inserted into thickest end of pork registers 155°F, about 30 to 35 minutes. Put 2 layers of foil on a work surface and transfer pork to foil. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, then wrap in foil and chill until cold, about 2 hours.
While pork cools, put roasting pan with shallots over a burner, then add wine and deglaze pan by boiling, stirring and scraping up any brown bits with a wooden spoon, 1 minute. Transfer mixture to a 2- to 2 1/2-quart heavy saucepan. Add cherries, sugar, and rosemary and boil until liquid is reduced to about 2 cups, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard rosemary sprigs (do not discard any leaves that have fallen off stems). Transfer mixture to a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and chill, uncovered, until cold, about 1 1/2 hours.
Cut chilled pork with a carving knife or an electric meat slicer diagonally into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Roll up each slice into a cornet (cone) shape and pierce in center with a rosemary sprig to secure. Fill opening of each cornet with about 1/2 teaspoon cherry sauce. Discard rosemary sprigs when eating.