I was looking for a quick dinner tonight and had some pork tenderloin in the fridge. I remembered that my mother used to make quick pork medallions in a paprika sauce and I always loved it. Paired with some nice mashed potatoes and you have yourself a true comfort meal ready in as little time as it takes to cook the potatoes.
This was so easy and tasty I think we’ll have to have it more often. So if you only have a half hour to make dinner and you want something healthy and tasty, pull the pork tenderloin from the freezer and have at this… yummy on a cold winter evening.
No real measurement here just guesstimates… but you can follow along, it’s so simple.
Get the potatoes boiling in a pot on the stove… check… melt some butter and a touch of oil in the saucepan and cut the tenderloin into about ½ inch medallions…. Check. Once the butter and oil has melted brown the medallions… make sure you salt and pepper them. Take them out of the pan and add a diced onion, cook until translucent, add grated or chopped garlic, (I used 3… okay… 4) sauté until fragrant and then add a couple of tablespoons of flour. Brown this just a few minutes, you just want to get rid of the floury taste. Then just as it’s almost done, sprinkle generously with paprika and stir once or twice and then add either chicken broth or I added some water from the now boiling potatoes and cook until thick. The one thing you have to pay attention to here is to not burn the paprika, burning it or having it on heat too long with give it an awful bitter taste and we don’t want that. Once that has thickened then add back the meat and any drippings and warm through. Lastly, add in a spoonful of sour cream, cream or even a bit of milk to give it a creamy texture and smoothness.
Mash the now cooked potatoes, adding milk and butter and salt to taste, scoop onto a plate with a pat of butter on top and then layer the pork and gravy just off the side… easy peasy and in under half an hour.