The only thing I think I would change is that I was dice the apples to get a more thorough cooking. The first 1/4" or so got cooked fine, but if I had waited for the whole halves to get cooked through, the bottom would have become mush. I already made some changes to the original while I was cooking.
As you can see in the photo, I made potatoes (with cumin and garlic powder this time) and peas to go with this.
Sauteed Apples & Pork Medallions with Pan Sauce
Ingredients
2 Granny Smith apples, halved
2 pork medallions (or you can slice your own pork tenderloin, about 1/4" thick)
2 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp cumin
salt & pepper
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp oil (I used vegetable oil)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
Equipment
stove, pan with high-ish sides, have your plates ready
Instructions
Put oil and butter in pan on medium heat. Sprinkle your apples with salt & pepper on the cut sides. In the meantime, mix flour, cumin, and some salt & pepper. Lightly coat the pork medallions and set aside. Once butter is melted, stir it up and add apples, cut-side down. Cook until they look approximately like the picture (about 5 minutes). Remove them and put on plates. Add pork medallions to the pan and cook about 4-5 minutes on each side (until done). Set aside on plates. Add chicken broth and white wine vinegar to the pan and scrape up any bits from the bottom. After about a minute, add minced garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes until it reduces a bit. Pour pan sauce over pork and serve.
Yields
2 servings
Total time
about 30 minutes (although I started the potatoes earlier, because they took about 45 minutes)
Cleanup rating 2/5
One of the amazing things about making a pan sauce (other than the incredible flavor it yields) is that deglazing the pan does the "hard" work of cleaning the pan for you! Instead of scrubbing off all the little bits afterward, you just put delicious liquid into the pan and it turns those bits into food! Although, with all the oil and apple juice and broth and meat juices and butter going on, there was quite a bit of splatter (I may have used a bit too much oil) so that made a little bit of a mess.
Difficulty rating 4/10
Actually quite easy. The hardest thing was trying to determine when things were done. I'm pretty sure I've never cooked pork (which is weird, but chicken is just so easy) and I've certainly never sauteed apple halves, so I was a little lost the whole time. Cubing the apples would have made the whole thing a lot easier.
Flavor rating 7/10
YUM. The apples were a little weird (again, they only got half-cooked I think, so cubing would help... or at least slicing). But the pork was very good, and the pan sauce was delicious. (I added the garlic on a whim, and I'm ever so glad that I did. I would probably have added a little finely diced onion if I had remembered that there was half an onion in the fridge. And maybe used a splash of wine too.)
NEW CATEGORY!!!
Adjustability: high
Obviously, I've already mentioned that the apples were too big. And that I messed with the pan sauce quite a bit (and would do so even more in the future). So this new category will help consolidate all of these ideas. Low adjustability means I don't think I would change anything, or I don't know how. Medium adjustability means I could change one or two things, or I wouldn't change it very much. High adjustability means the possibilities are endless, and/or I have lots of ideas of what to change in future attempts.
NEW CATEGORY!!!
Make it with
This category will tell you what I did make to go with the recipe, or what I might consider making with it. I already mentioned that this one was made with potatoes (with cumin and garlic) and peas. I might also make rice, and any green vegetable you like... broccoli might be good.
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