pork medallions in whisky-marmalade sauce

I even love how it sounds – whisky-marmalade sauce / say it with me.

I have to confess that I am actually kind of a train wreck in the kitchen at times. I tend to use ALL or at least close to all of my utensils, bowls, measuring cups, pots and pans. It is truly ridiculous. I like to; or actually have to  work in a clean kitchen so I will clean up before I start and when I am done making whatever it is I am making for the day it looks like a war zone. Flour on the floor, dishes exploding from the sink, every tasting spoon used up. This is probably why I always told my kids “it doesn’t matter how messy you make the kitchen but make sure to clean it up after”
My favorite kitchen mess up moment was cracking an egg for my poached egg breakfast when the egg left the shell and landed between the counter and stove top. You know the space that is most impossible to clean; the whites were seeping down the cracks and the yolk sitting all pretty by itself. Eyes wide, mouth open and not a clue what to do I just had to laugh.  Lets just say that was fun to clean and no I did not get the yolk out of its predicament whole.
One of my favorite magazines is Fine Cooking – I was reading and marking pages of recipes I want/need to try last weekend. For Sunday dinner I was making one of them and sharing a bottle of wine (actually she brought a box) with my daughter. Kitchen was looking crazy with ingredients everywhere, sink full, magazine propped open on the counter alongside my glass of wine when I have no idea how I did it but glass broken and wine spilled IN magazine I’m still baffled.     

Pork Medallions with Whisky-Marmalade sauce
apparently I forgot to take a picture of the end result – sorry about that; they looked beautiful and tasted great.

¼ cup orange marmalade
¼ cup fresh orange juice
4 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry mustard
2 Tbs olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
1 ¼ lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1 inch-thick medallions
1 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs shallots – finely chopped
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 Tbs scotch whiskey
¼ tsp cornstarch

In a small bowl combine the first four ingredients and set aside.
Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

Generously season the medallions with salt and pepper.  Cook medallions about 5 minutes on each side, you want them golden brown and barely cooked through.  Remove pork to a plate.

Add butter, shallot, red pepper to pan until the shallots are tender. Add the whisky and cook, stirring until it’s almost evaporated.  Stir in the marmalade sauce and bring to a boil.

Take the ¼ tsp cornstarch and add a Tbs of water in a small bowl stir till combined. Add this to the marmalade sauce and simmer until it thickens. Season to taste with salt and pepper and a little lemon juice.

Add the pork and the collected juices back to the pan just to reheat the pork. Serve the sauce drizzled over the pork medallions.

Recipe – Fine Cooking