Alaska Cooks

One of our favorite meats is pork. It’s kind of hard to find the good types up here - most pork has water or citric acid added, or other flavoring agents that make it taste mushy and a bit unnatural. Thankfully they are labeled as such, so the most minimally processed stuff is what we look for. Not always possible to find the organic and all natural versions but we do what we can. I must quote Homer Simpson arguing with his daughter about being a vegetarian:

Homer: Are you saying you’re never going to eat any animal again? What about bacon?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Ham?
Lisa: No.
Homer: Pork chops?
Lisa: Dad, those all come from the same animal.
Homer: Heh heh heh. Ooh, yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

We partook of the magical animal tonight, in the form of breaded cutlets, a sweet and sour sauce, and served up with steamed edamame beans. In the ongoing battle to find foods that are healthy, interesting, and easy to put on the table before 10 PM, pork wins honors for being quick to flavor cook. The recipe I was loosely following called for tenderloin, but I went with a trimmed roast instead. the pork tenderloin has the unfortunate tendency to be sold here mostly in vacuum-packed portions with preservatives added, and the flavor seems off. And I don’t need any preserving yet, myself.

pork:
1 pork tenderloin or roast
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tbs garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
olive oil

Trim the roast or tenderloin of all fat and tough silvery skin. It’s easier to do this if you throw it in the freezer for 45 minutes or so before you begin to work with it. Slice it into half-inch thick medallions. Place the pork into a plastic bag or between pieces of plastic wrap and (gently) pound thin. Don’t go overboard with the pounding, or you torn the meat in to pork mush. Mix the flour and seasoning in a bowl, and dredge each piece of meat in it, covering well. You want to do this right before you cook or the flour will absorb the liquid from the meat, and it will not brown nicely. Heat a largish skillet quite hot, and add a glug of olive oil. Cook the pork quickly on each side, browning and crisping well, and remove from the pan. I no-stick skillet is easy to clean, but it will not brown the meat well nor will it leave much pork goodness in the pan to deglaze later. An iron skillet is the way to go.

sauce
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup brandy
4 tbs white (or rice) wine vinegar
1 tbs sugar
2 tsp cracked peppercorns

In the same pan that you cooked the pork in, mix the first 5 things from the list above. Deglaze the pan, scraping all the good bits (the fond) up that are left over from cooking the meat, and reduce the liquid by two-thirds. Add the peppercorns, butter, and turn off the burner. Swirl the butter in and add the meat back to the pan. Remove from the heat.

edamame:
12 oz shelled edamame beans
4 tbs soy sauce
1/3 cup chopped cooked bacon
Steam the beans for 3 or 4 minutes, and then toss with the soy sauce and bacon.