Medallions of Pork with Red Wine Sauce
Submitted by sendfire
Pork medallions seared and finished with a red wine pan sauce built on shallots, ginger, balsamic, honey, and butter. Bistro-style technique that turns boneless pork loin into a 35-minute dinner.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
20 minREADY
35 minPork medallions with red wine sauce is the kind of pan-to-plate French bistro cooking that turns lean boneless pork loin into something worth lighting candles for. A quick 10-minute marinade of red wine, balsamic, honey, ginger, thyme, clove, and bay infuses the medallions while you set the pan on the stove.
Pounding the slices lightly with a mallet matters here. It both tenderizes lean pork loin and ensures even thickness so the medallions cook through in the same time. Patting them bone-dry before they hit the hot oil is what gets you a proper sear instead of a steam.
The sauce builds the classic French way: pull the meat, sweat shallots in the fond, deglaze with the reserved marinade, reduce by a quarter, then mount with cold butter for that glossy emulsified finish.
Chef Tips
- Pat the pork completely dry after marinating. Wet meat steams in the pan instead of searing, and you lose the browned crust that flavors the sauce.
- Reduce the marinade hard and fast over high heat. Slow reduction can taste raw and acidic instead of concentrated and balanced.
- Swirl in cold butter off the heat. Adding butter to a screaming-hot pan breaks the emulsion and you get oily sauce instead of glossy.
- Use a wine you’d drink. A medium-bodied red like a pinot noir or cotes du rhone reduces into a clean, fruit-forward sauce.
Variations
- Substitute apple cider and a splash of brandy for the red wine for an autumn-leaning sauce.
- Add a tablespoon of dijon mustard to the finished sauce for extra tang and body.
- Use the same technique with chicken breast cutlets pounded thin if pork isn’t on hand.
Ingredients
Directions
Place pork slices on a flat surface.
Pound lightly with a mallet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Combine ginger, thyme, vinegar, bay leaf, clove, wine, and honey in a bowl and blend well.
Place sliced pork in a dish and pour mixture over it.
Marinate for 10 minutes. Drain the pork medallions and pat dry.
Reserve marinate. Place meat in a single layer in skillet in the hot oil.
Cook for 5 minutes, turn and cook for 5 minutes more over medium high heat.
Reduce heat and cook meat for 2 minutes more. Transfer meat to a dish and keep warm.
In skillet add the shallots and cook stirring until wilted.
Add the reserved marinate and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom.
Cook until marinate is reduced to ¾ its original amount. Swirl in the butter and pour the sauce over the medallions.
Remove bay leaf and sprigs of thyme before serving.
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