Adventures of An American Chef on the Run: Pork Medallions and Gravy Over Home Made Mashed Potatoes

Tonight's dinner was unexpectedly special.  This morning, while making breakfast I marinated some pork tenderloin pieces in the fridge for use in dinner.  As the day progressed, I pondered on what to make, figuring the end result would contain the meat and most likely mashed potatotes.  I finally came up with this, a super delicious spinoff of a microwave dinner I used to be fond of before I could cook. No pictures were taken of the marinating process, because I didn't take any.  The things I didn't photogragh were all fairly simple, I'll just explain them further below.  I give you, marinated pork medallions in gravy over home made mashed potatoes.

Ingredients: 

Marinade: 

1 t balsamic vinegar

1t olive oil

1 T honey

1/2 pound tenderloin

1/2 t salt

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t black pepper

Gravy:

3 T corn starch

2 cups water

3 T butter

Potatoes:

1/2 kilo potatoes

4 T butter

Milk

Salt and Pepper

Prepare the meat by mixing the marinade ingredients together in a bag, then adding the meat refrigerate until ready to use, up to a few days.  It'll change color as it marinades, and the texture will change slightly as well from the salt. 

Slice the meat into little rounds like I did shown in the pictures above. These are the "medallions" of meat.

Chop the potatoes and put them in a pot.  Add water until covered and bring to a boil.  Boil during the cooking process of the meat until they are mushy.

Heat the butter in a large skillet on medium high, add the meat medalions

Fry the medallions until they're slightly browned.

Add the water and stir.  Turn the heat to high and allow some of the water to boil out.

Mix the corn starch with a little water and add that to the broth, stirring constantly.  The sauce will thicken to a gravy immedietly.  

Drain the potatoes and transfer to a bowl.  Add the butter, milk, salt and pepper and blend with a mixer until smooth, adding milk as you go to adjust texture.

We like ours smooth and creamy, how you handle it is up to you.

There you have it, it looks simple but it was deliciously complex.  John enjoyed it so much that he corrected himself to let me know just how good it was.  I generally get him saying it's alright, tonight he said it was really good.  He's my toughest critic, save for myself, and he keeps me on his toes.  Even his compliments keep me on my toes.