Recipe: Pork Marsala

I love food.  I love preparing it, cooking it, baking it, displaying it, but most of all I LOVE EATING IT!  Justin, on the other hand, doesn't enjoy food near as much as I do...and you can tell this for sure by my plump disposition compared to his rail thin physique :-/

Anyway, cooking is sort of my outlet to express myself.  I am in no way a culinary genius, but it does feel nice when I wow someone with my skills in the kitchen, especially if it's one of my own recipes-you know, the kind of cooking that you have no recipe for, you just rely on your know-how and taste buds?

I'm always trying to impress Justin with my cooking.  It's a HUGE challenge because food to him is simply nourishment.  He gets no joy from eating...unless its' junk food he once told me.

But one day, I finally did it.  I tried a new recipe-Pork Marsala and this was his reaction" Oh, babe!  This is rrrreeeallllly good!"  Score! :-)

Doesn't it look good?! Yum!  Make it for yourself and your family!

I slightly altered the recipe below, but I've added my changes in parentheses.

Pork Marsala

Fine Cooking Magazine May 2004

2 lbs pork tenderloin  (I used 2 boneless pork chops)

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp butter or margarine

12 oz of mushrooms (you can used canned to make your life easier, but fresh is always better!)

1 tbsp all purpose flour

1/2 c dry Marsala (I didn't have any so I improvised and used what we had, Merlot)

1 c chicken broth

2 tbsp heavy cream

1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley (or just sprinkle on some dried parsley-eye ball it)

1. Season meat with salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil and 1 tbsp of the butter in a large saute pan over high heat.
3. When butter is melted and foaming, sear the meat until nicely browned, 2-3 minutes.
4. Flip and cook meat until it's well browned and slightly firm to the touch, 2-3 minutes.
5. Transfer to a plate.
6. Melt the remaining butter in the pan.
7. Add a pinch of salt and add the mushrooms. (if you are using canned mushrooms, no need to cook them, go to step 11).
8. Using wooden spoon, scrape any brown bits that have formed on the bottom of the ban and mix with mushrooms.
9. Saute until all the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have browned.
10. Season with a sprinkle of salt.
11. Add the flour and Marsala (Merlot in my case).
12. Once the Marsala (Merlot) has almost evaporated, add the chicken broth and reduce by half, about  3 minutes.
13. Stir in cream and parsley (I added just a sprinkle of dried parsley), return the pork and any accumulated juices to the pan and cook flipping the pork once until it's firm to the touch and there is no pink in the center.
14. Note, that you may have to add a bit more flour than the recipe calls in order to thicken up the sauce. ( I did!)

Pair it  with rosemary garlic roasted potatoes and a caesar salad.  And if you are anything like us, you'll finish off that bottle of Merlot too!