Requested Recipes Part II Subtitle: Pork Marsalalalalala

First off I would just like to say that I was thinking about it, and the way I wrote the instructions for the fish sorta makes it sound as if I don't expect any of you to know how to cook fish. That was not my intention. If you don't know how to cook fish, then there it is for you in black and white and technicolor. If you do, just keep doin' whatcha been doin'. Ok. So, on to the pork...


Pork Marsala
adapted from a recipe for Chicken Marsala

1-1/2 to 2 lb Pork Tenderloin (if you get it in the vacuum packed, er, package it usually comes in two pieces. Use both.)
1 tbsp Oil of your choice (I used olive oil)
3 tbsp butter (pronounced buttah, of course)
3 cups sliced mushrooms (your choice - I used cremini, which look like brown button mushrooms - and you can reduce the amount if you prefer)
2 tbsp (at least) chopped shallots (Hi, my name is Teri and I'm addicted to shallots)
3/4 cup Sweet Marsala wine (Go ahead, splurge on the $11 bottle)
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper (Salt 'n' Pepa, anyone?)

Pre-heat oven to 350°(325° for convection). Lightly oil roasting pan or 9x13 baking dish. Heat the tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tenderloins and brown evenly on all sides. Transfer tenderloins to baking pan. (I also chopped up some red potatoes, tossed them in a little olive oil, minced garlic and kosher salt and arranged them around the meat.) Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, turn meat over and cook another approximately 20 minutes or until the thickest part of the 'loin gets to 170°. (This is where my digital thermometer paid for itself.) Once it reaches temperature, remove from oven and let the meat rest. (Seriously, it turns out, letting it rest is important.) At some point during the last 20 minutes that the meat is cooking, take the skillet you used to brown the meat and melt 1 tbsp of butter. Add shallots and cook until translucent. (Carmelized might be even better, but would take longer. If you carmelize the shallots, then you should probably add a little more butter before you add the mushrooms.) Add mushrooms and cook them, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown around the edges and have given off their liquid. Add the Marsala (beware of flare!) and bring to a boil, scraping all the yummy brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the wine has reduced by half add chicken stock and cook until sauce thickens a bit. Swirl in butter and add salt and pepper to taste. Transfer sauce to a bowl, cut up pork into nice juicy chunks and serve to applause and praise from your adoring audience. Easy peasy.

Enjoy!

(Please note: here in SoCal it is technically still Thursday. I'm just sayin'.)

Update/Correction: Meno pointed out that I forgot to mention when I use the shallots. Duh me! Before you add the mushrooms, cook the shallots until they are translucent. Or carmelized them, even. If you carmelize them, you might want to add a little more butter before you put in the mushrooms. Hope this didn't cause any problems! Thanks, Meno! (I've corrected the recipe, btw.)