Company-perfect pork

 

I’m having fun revisiting some dishes that I used to make when I was feeding four teenagers. Is thirty years old enough to make a recipe retro? Not too long ago I did a tuna casserole for a friend who had fond memories of that dish from his childhood. Now he wants chicken divan, and I’m looking forward to fixing that. But both dishes have ingredients that are not on the Burton-approved list—tuna for all, and broccoli for Christian.

On the other hand, the other night I fixed pork medallions in a creamy tarragon sauce—everyone cleaned their plates and, far as I could tell, liked it. But what was most fun was that as I was cooking, Jordan said, “That smells familiar.” I think it was the tarragon, which is not an herb we use often.

I can’t even tell how old this recipe is. The original was so fragile that I photocopied it—and lost the source and date. But not the headline that bills it as quick! and company perfect! The recipe calls for one and a quarter lbs. of pork tenderloin—and right there we have a problem. For this family of four, with a teenage boy who grows daily before our eyes, one is not enough. And two is too much. The other night, I cooked two, and we had six pieces left over—great for lunch the next day.

Here’s what I did:

Pork medallions with tarragon sauce

1-1/4 lbs. pork tenderloin

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 Tbsp. butter

Salt

½ c. beef broth

½ tsp. dried tarragon

½ c. half-and-half

Pepper

           First, slice the tenderloin into medallions. I didn’t do this, but I think if you could start with them slightly frozen, they would be easier to slice. The silver “skin” on tenderloins is particularly difficult and may require scissors. Cut the tenderloin into 1-1/2 inch pieces and flatten slightly.

Coat one side of each piece lightly with the mustard (best to put that Tbsp. of mustard into a small dish so that you are not dipping a knife, fresh from raw meat, back into the jar and contaminating all the mustard).

Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in skillet and add medallions, mustard-side down. Sprinkle meat with salt. Reduce heat to medium and cook five minutes. Using tongs, turn each piece and cook another five minutes. Remove meat from skillet and keep warm.

Add beef broth and tarragon to drippings in the pan. Scrape to loosen all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until broth is reduced by about half. Add half-and-half. Recipe says simmer until slightly thickened, but it never will thicken much. Next time I think I’ll dissolve ½ tsp. corn starch in a tiny bit of cold water and add to the sauce, stirring over low heat until it thickens. The flavor as we had It was great, but I prefer a more gravy-like sauce with the meat. Return meat to skillet, add pepper to taste, and heat gently. Do NOT let it boil or your sauce will curdle.

We served this with noodles and salad, but it would also be good with Christian’s green beans.

Christian’s green beans

4 slices bacon – reserve grease

2 cans cut green beans, or equal amount of fresh, washed and trimmed of ends and strings

Cider vinegar to taste

Fry the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel. Leave the grease in the skillet. Dump in the drained green beans and heat. Splash with cider vinegar—about a Tbsp. Taste and add more if needed. Crumble bacon over beans, stir and serve.

Confession: I forgot to take a picture—and the medallions looked so good in the skillet. The picture above is for the algorithms and approximates what our dinner looked like but without the sauce.