Basic cost per serving for two people is just $2.58 + glass of red wine = 3.88
Election night deserves something special. I prepared pork medallions (with creamy mustard sauce) served with roasted butternut squash.
Let's start with the basics.
You will need: 1 pork loin. (Aldi- $3.67 0.92 net weight) Depending on your household, buy the portion that will feed your family. For a more substantial loin, the cost hovers around 5 - 6 dollars. This larger loin will certainly feed up to six persons.
Butternut squash from the garden. If you did not have an opportunity to plant this past spring and have no harvest of squash, then I recommend buying from a local farmer's market or the nearest grocery store. I have seen this squash quite reasonably priced as is the season for them. You can expect to pay about 1.50 and a bit higher but no more than 2 dollars for a nice large butternut.
First things first. Go to the pantry list and take out:
Heavy Cream-frig
Dijon Mustard- frig
Coconut Oil
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Black Pepper
Red Pepper Flakes
Dried Herb Seasoning
Before starting the medallions; you can either roast the squash in a convection/gas oven or microwave.
You need to open up the squash and remove all seeds. Place in a glass baking dish and cover modestly with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried herb seasoning mix: rosemary, oregano and mint.
If you will be using an oven, then set the oven on 400F degrees, when the temperature is reached, you can insert you squash in its dish and cook for 45 mins. This does take time. Most of us have a microwave and I recommend using it as it takes no more than 12 mins on high for a larger squash and only 6 for two halves of a smaller one.
Now, you can begin to prepare and cook the medallions. On a clean wood cutting board, slice the loin at least an inch to an inch and half so that you have nice thick medallions. Salt and pepper the medallions. Take out our covered skillet and add a 3 tbs of Coconut oil and the same of Olive oil. Put a medium flame under the skillet and wait for the oils to spit.
Once they do, its time to lay the medallions in. Let the meat spit and pop a bit while cooking. Turn over using tongs or spatula. Again, let the medallions brown on the other side.
Having done that, reduce the flame to low and cover. The juices should readily flow and cause a liquid to form, when you see this happening, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream and cover again. On the last moment, stir in 1 tbs of Dijon mustard and some fresh dried herbs.
Take out a wide large platter and gently set each medallion on the plate. Pour out the lovely sauce and garnish with parsley flakes or a sprig of any fresh herb.
The squash should be ready, holding fast in the microwave which turned off at six minutes.
If you had to go the way of conventional oven, you will have roast the squash first and then prepare the medallions as instructed above.
This meal is one of my husband's favorite, and mine too.
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