Be my Valentine challenge Forbidden rice, pork tenderloin w/apple-cranberry topping

    Hello!  Hope your all doing well.  It's February and once again I'm excited to announce I will be judging another challenge for verygoodrecipes.com, this time the theme is dedicated to Valentines day.  We're calling it "Be My Valentine" and the dish should include the color red, I think I'm finding being a part of this as interesting as the competitors do, I like a good challenge.  Before I get to my recipe  I'd like  introduce the judges this month, find the complete list below and the link to the challenge site.
http://verygoodrecipes.com/be-my-valentine-challenge

Han Ker from Hankerie
Irini from Irini Savva
Katie from Down Home Foodie
Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
Leslie from Culinary Chronicles
Michelle from The Adirondack Chick
Minna from Naked Plate
Simcha from Turkish Cooking Everyday
Teri from The Freshman Cook


     The dish I prepared for this Valentines challenge was put together with the idea of two  lovers  who escape their everyday lives to be together (take that as you will) and when they are together one of their indulgences is sharing a sexy meal that enhances their romantic experience (one can dream).  With this in mind I thought of something playful, appealing to the palate and the eye, something  that in the end would elevate their desires and be an excellent prelude to the rest of the evening.  Bare in mind this recipe is solely for the competition,

I will be posting my own individual valentine dish on here in about a week, dedicated to  "singles".  For now please enjoy the dish I call "Forbidden Fruit" (a pun) consisting of a roasted pork  tenderloin topped with sauteed apples, cranberries simmered in dark rum and an accompaniment  of black rice aka. forbidden rice.  The play of ingredients in this dish  cause an explosion of flavors on the palate, a sense of excitement and perhaps even an aphrodisiac effect as it is suspected "forbidden rice" was used by emperors for this reason and some nutritional purposes of course, plus the rum in the cranberries should lower inhibitions if any.   I cooked the apples separate from the cranberries because I didn't want the whole mixture to be red.  I placed a layer of the apple on top of the sliced tenderloin, then a layer of the rum cranberries on top of the apples so you can see the lovely colors individually.   Below find the recipe for "Forbidden Fruit" and enjoy!

Forbidden Fruit

Forbidden rice

2 cups of black rice

4cups of water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon garlic

Soak rice overnight, this will reduce the cooking time, not by much though, bring water to a boil, add

rice add salt, pepper and garlic and stir, when all the water has evaporated reduce heat to low, cover

pot and let cook covered about twenty five minutes.   

Pork tenderloin

2 pound pork tenderloin

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon oil

Season tenderloin, heat pan add oil, when hot add tenderloin sear it to golden brown on all sides.

Place in 350 oven until it reaches a temperature of 160 , remove, place on plate and let it rest.  

You can slice it after you've prepared all the other components.

Sauteed apple

1 red delicious apple

1 shallot

1 tablespoon of sugar

2 tablespoons butter 

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Large Dice the apple with the peel, heat pan then add butter, when melted add shallot, cook until

translucent add apple, cinnamon and sugar cook until apple is tender.  Remove from heat and hold.

 Rum Cranberry Sauce

1 cup fresh cranberries

1/2 cup dark rum

1 tablespoon or sugar to taste

Add rum to saucepan add cranberries and sugar, let simmer until the cranberries have burst open and

softened, when the mix is thick remove from heat.