Pork Medallions with Pasta

This is yet another way to fix pork tenderloin, a cut that is really easy to work with and nearly failure proof.

I sliced a single tenderloin (they usually come in twos) across the grain into approx 1-inch slices. I turned them cut side up and salted and peppered, then sprinkled very lightly with flour.

In a pan that used to be nonstick ... it's wearing out ... I put some olive oil, just enough to shimmer the surface, and heated it just a bit. Then, I cooked some sliced garlic - about three cloves - until the pieces were translucent. At that point, I pulled the garlic out and turned up the heat to start searing the medallions. This never takes very long, and you're not looking to cook the meat through anyway, just to put some nice color on it. It took two batches to do this, and I put the finished meat on a plate to rest while I browned the rest. Then, I put just a bit more oil in the pan (maybe a tablespoon), put the garlic back in, and then added about a tablespoon of champagne wine vinegar, a scant teaspoon of sugar, about a quarter cup of water, and about 2 tablespoons of whole grain mustard into the pan. When that was all combined, I put the browned meat into the sauce, cut the heat back to low, put a lid on, and let it simmer until the meat was cooked all the way through. That probably took 6 or 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, I boiled water for pasta, angelhair of course. That only takes about three minutes to cook. When the angelhair was done, I put it on a platter, drizzled a little olive oil over, then placed each pork medallion on top of the pasta, poured the rest of the pan sauce over everything, and then sprinkled some fresh-cut chives over the top.

Served with some fresh asparagus, steamed, and some leftover veggie casserole.