What Kind of Bird is Pork?

A family joke comes from one occasion my sister, I'm not saying which sister, asked our oldest brother: "Now what kind of bird is pork again?" (she was an adult) James said: "what?" and doodled a pig with wings and said--"this is the pork bird." Kind of funny.

So this is a dish I've been making quite often lately. Pork tenerloin is a less expensive cut of meat, so I've been trying different recipes. Plus I love pork. Lately I buy a big loin from Costco, and it ends up making this dinner three times. I obviously freeze the other two hunks for later. I think I've mentioned on here that as we live with my parents, and they both work full time, I make dinner for all of us. After each meal my dad gives it a rating between 1 & 10. He loves this dish and I think it's the only meal that is my original recipe that's ever recieved a 10 vote. He calls it "Country Club Pork". So I guess that is what it is:

COUNTRY CLUB PORK

ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lb pork tenderloin, cut in 1/2 - 1" medallions

1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced

1 red pepper, diced

1 carrot, peeled and grated

2 T butter

2 T olive oil

2 T flour

1 T parsley

1 T basil

1 1/2 tsp beef boulion granules

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 to 2/3 c. sherry cooking wine

3/4 c. cream, half-n-half, or milk

1/2 to 1 tsp garlic granules

directions:

This dish takes more time than most of my usual recipes, so I usually prep everything in the morning to save time in the evening:

-Pork: trim off fat from pork tenderloin, cut along between 1/2" and 1", making round medallions

-Veggies: peel & grate carrot, dice red pepper, and plop in large non-stick skillet that has a lid. Drizzle the 2 T olive oil and add one of the 2 tablespoons butter

-Mushrooms: rinse off mushrooms, slice, place in small skillet with the other 1 T butter, and the garlic--you can add more later to suit your preference **my husband hates mushrooms, so I cook them on the side since quite a few people are anti-fungi

-Measure out the flour, salt, pepper, beef granules, basil, & parsley

TIME FOR DINNER, GET COOKING!
1. Mushrooms. If you like them and are using them, start the mushrooms sauteing on medium heat. They have quite a bit of moisture, so they eventually boil. Once they come to a boil, turn the heat down to med-low and let them simmer down and get soft. I like them where they're just beginning to brown up. But the mushrooms are on the side and I just let them cook the whole time, so we'll get back to them when you eat the whole thing
2. Saute the carrot, red pepper until carrots are tender, take them out and set aside until the very end.
3. Plop your pork medallions in the saute pan, and add a little more oil if the carrot/pepper didn't leave enough in the pan. Cook the pork on medium until cooked through, flipping half way, about 8 minutes or so.
4. Once pork is cooked through, turn up heat to high. Brown both sides, giving it a little bit of crispy goodness. Take out the meat and set aside.
5. Pour your cooking sherry in the empty, hot skillet to pull off all the crisp meat flavor from the pan--that is called "deglazing" right? Who cares what it's called, doesn't matter, just makes the sauce taste good.

6. The cooking sherry will boil quickly, let it boil a minute or so, turning down the heat to medium. Then whisk in your flour/herb/salt/pepper/beef stuff until smooth. At this point add your cream/ half-n-half or milk. **I've tried all three, all taste good, but you already know cream tastes the best.

7. Bring sauce to boil. Turn heat down to low, and add the pork back into the sauce, coating both sides. Cover skillet with lid and let meat simmer in the sauce 30 min to 1 hour. One night no one came home on time and it ended up simmering for 1 1/2 hours. If you keep the lid on, it won't dry out, and the meat just has more time to get tender.

At this point everything is done until you're ready to eat.

To serve, I put the pork down, then mushrooms for those that like them, then the carrot/peppers, topped with a spoonful of sauce. I didn't put the sauce on top for the photo.

I've thought about trying this in a crock pot. One night I didn't have mushrooms and sauted onions in its place. I am a sloppy cook, so I rarely measure, so feel free to just grab a glob of butter rather than measuring 1 T, and drizzle oil until it looks good rather than measure 2 T.

So out of the four adults that have been eating this quite frequently lately, we all like it. Tonight Rhett said: "I do have to admit this is one of the better things you cook." So sorry if you spend the time to make it and it is gross to you. We all like it.