Tom Valenti's One-Pot Meals: Pork Tenderloin Medallions
Pork tenderloin is an incredibly versatile and easy cut of meat to cook with. You can use it whole or, to really speed up the preparation process, cut into medallions. Tom Valenti, best-selling cookbook author and owner of Ouest restaurant in New York City, came up with this incredibly flavorful recipe for his book Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals
If you don't want to fire up the grill, cook the medallions in a sauté pan over medium-high heat for five to six minutes per side for medium-rare, seven to eight minutes for more well done.
Pork Tenderloin Medallions
Ingredients
2 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each) , cut crosswise into 1 to 1 1/2-inch medallions
3 cloves garlic. peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 quart water
4 large Spanish onions. peeled and cut into small dice
2 cups cider vinegar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup chipotle chiles in adobo, pureed in a blender
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
Coarse salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Procedure
1. Put the pork medallions in a baking dish. Scatter the garlic slices
over the pork and drizzle with the olive oil. Cover; let marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Add the onions, and boil until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove onions with a slotted spoon; discard.
3. Gradually stir the vinegar and brown sugar into the boiling water; let boil for 5 minutes. Stir in the ketchup, molasses, chipotle purée, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and cumin seeds. Remove the pot from the heat. If not serving immediately, let cool, cover, and refrigerate for a few days or freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat before proceeding.
4. Remove the pork medallions from the refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Set aside half of sauce. Prepare an outdoor grill for grilling.
5. Brush off the garlic slices and excess oil from pork
medallions, season them on both sides with salt and pepper, and place them on the grate over the hottest part of the grill. Grill, basting with the remaining half of the barbecue sauce, for about 5 minutes on each side.
6. To serve, place 1 pork portion on each of 4 plates and serve the
reserved barbecue sauce alongside.
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10 Comments:
Let's see - a baking dish, a heavy-bottomed pot, and a grill...
What, exactly, makes this a "One-Pot Meal"?
And instruction-wise, are we missing a step, or are these "medallions" a half pound each?
fpatrick at 9:12AM on 07/19/07
No missing step, the medallions are a half pound each.
Alaina Browne at 10:09AM on 07/19/07
I know I'll probably get moderated for this, but I guess I'm confused as well. I always understood a "medallion" cut from tenderloin to be 1" to 1-1/2" thick. Could this recipe possibly be better titled "Marinated Pork Tenderloin"?
LunaPierCook at 10:21AM on 07/19/07
What, exactly, does "crosswise" mean?
RonBoyd at 10:57AM on 07/19/07
"Lengthwise" splits it in half from end-to-end, so "crosswise" would be side-to-side. Each chunk would then be 3" to 4" long.
LunaPierCook at 11:02AM on 07/19/07
We have reached out to the authors in an attempt to clarify these matters.
Stay tuned, serious eaters.
Ed Levine at 11:54AM on 07/19/07
Hi, all - This is Andrew Friedman, the coauthor of Soups, Stews, and One-Pot meals. The intrepid Ed Levine just tracked me down to ask after this recipe. It's been about five years since it was first put to paper, and needless to say the original testing notes have by now been recycled into Seventh Generation paper towels or something equally useful. BUT, after conferring with Tom Valenti, I am here to say the following: (1) So sorry about the typo in the recipe, and (2) those who have suggested that we probably meant to write that the tenderloins should have been cut crosswise into 1 to 1 1/2-inch medallions are correct.
As for the poster who wondered, "Let's see - a baking dish, a heavy-bottomed pot, and a grill...What, exactly, makes this a 'One-Pot Meal?'," you've answered your own question: a baking dish, a pot, and a grill - that's just one pot, right? (and one baking dish - get it?). But seriously, in the intro to the book, there's a little disclaimer titled "One Pot (Pretty Much)" that says, among other things, "I don't count mixing bowls, or even a pot or cookie sheet that might be used for a simple step like boiling pasta, blanching greens, or roasting vegetables. In a few cases I actually use a second pot to accelerate the process, like steaming a large quantity of mussels in two pots simultaneously..."
Hope this helps and thanks for paying attention!
Andrew Friedman at 12:52PM on 07/19/07
Thanks, Andrew! (And you too, Ed! ;-) )
LunaPierCook at 12:54PM on 07/19/07
tenderloin has always been a family favorite in our chinese household for stir fries...its amazingly tender. marinate quickly with soy sauce, ginger, garlic (to taste) and a teensy bit cornstarch, sautee ur favorite vegetable to tender-crisp, remove, then quickly sautee the pork to medium rare, toss veggies back in and ur done! now THAT is a one pot meal! =)
sassysprite at 1:21PM on 07/19/07
It certainly sounds tasty... though more steps than I had hoped.
Stushi at 6:08PM on 06/25/08