Smothered Pork Medallions

As the weather gets colder I am all about comfort food meals. I also love an excuse to make mashed potatoes. They're one of my favorite things and Baby Girl is taking after me in that regard. She will happily eat a big bowl full of them whenever I make them. When Melissa posted this recipe for Smothered Pork Medallions what drew me in was a new way to use pork and a sauce that included buttermilk, which I bought for Buttermilk Mac and Cheese and still had in my fridge waiting to be used up.


When shopping this week I realized I've never purchased pork tenderloin. How is that possible? Thankfully my supermarket had it on sale so it wasn't too expensive, but imagine my surprise when I discovered that what I thought was two tenderloins turned out to be four (the club pack came with two packages of pork, but each package contained two tenderloins). That's four meals for about $10. Awesome.

I was hesitant to use the full 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper to season the flour and I think that was a mistake. The dish was a little too sweet, probably from the onions. The extra cayenne would have helped mitigate that. Even so, this was delicious and we both cleaned our plates. You know SP is a sucker for anything with mushrooms in it. And it couldn't have been easier, which was nice for the Sunday when we decorated our Christmas tree.

Smothered Pork Medallions
Slightly Modified from I Was Born to Cook

3/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 pork tenderloin, thinly sliced into medallions
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 package (10 ounces) mushrooms, sliced
2 medium onions, sliced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup buttermilk
Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Put the flour in a gallon food storage bag. Add garlic powder, cayenne, salt and pepper. Mix well. Add the medallions and shake to coat.

Heat oil in a large skillet and add pork in an even layer. Fry pork on each side until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate. Add a little more oil to the pan, then add the mushrooms and onions. Season with a little salt and pepper and cook until the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated and the onions are soft, about 10-15 minutes. Add about 1 tablespoon of the seasoned flour to pan drippings. Mix together, then add chicken broth. Once liquid is reduced and slightly thickened, add buttermilk and stir.

Return pork to pan and cover in sauce. Simmer for about 5 minutes, until pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with parsley to serve.