Tonight I left my night class with a sinking thought - a thought that would only occur in the mind of a grad student: "When exactly was that pizza from?" Because when you're in grad school, it's perfectly normal to walk into a classroom five minutes late, see a box of pizza on the conference table and flip the box open and start noshing a slice without ever entertaining the notion that perhaps that pizza was from last night's night class...
But I digress.
My point is that I came home tonight slightly full yet slightly hungry. So I finished up my stats homework and decided to cook something on the smallish yet still fulfilling side.
I had in my freezer three medallions that I had sliced from a small pork tenderloin that I had cooked last week. I thawed them out and assessed what else I had in my fridge. I had some button mushrooms and some fresh dill. I also had onion and garlic, and about two inches of a wonderful sweet white wine. We can work with this. Here's what you'll need for tonight's appetizer-sized meal:
~ Pork tenderloin cut into medallions
~ Button mushrooms
~ White wine (for sautéing, I prefer sweet NY whites as they have a lot of residual sugar which prevents the mushrooms from tasting tart)
~ Fresh dill (haven't had a lot of experience with this herb yet, but I really am warming to it!)
~ Garlic (one clove)
~ Small amount of onion
~ Coarse ground sea salt
~ Olive oil
~ A dash of balsamic vinegar
~ A quick squeeze of lemon
With one cutting board and one chef's knife (keep this simple - it's late) mince up the garlic and onion. Add it to the dash of olive oil and balsamic in your pan and a quick squeeze of lemon. Add some sweet wine. Take a taste for yourself. Add the mushrooms and start everything a-sizzlin'. Grind some salt over the whole thing and then add some dill (about one small sprig's worth).
Let this sauté for a bit until the mushrooms are almost done. Scootch the mushrooms to the center of the pan and place the pork medallions into the sauce on top of some of the garlic, onion and dill. Turn a few times until they are done. You may want to move them toward the center of the pan and the mushrooms out a bit.
The next time I make this meal, I think I would add a little fruit to the mix (perhaps some diced apple or dried apricot) to add a touch more sugar to the acidity of the sauce. I thought it was really tasty, but I thought it would be exceptional with just the slightest bit more sweetness.
I enjoyed this supper with a glass of Mastroberardino Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. It's a 2005 and needed to be consumed... that, and it's a really enjoyable white wine, with crisp acidity that complemented the fresh lightness of the dill and citrus.
Yours in the love of good food and wine (regardless of the time of day!)
AL
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The blogger is not an experienced chef. She takes no responsibility for the quality of the meals prepared while following her advice. Use your own judgment regarding cooking times and proper food handling.
