Bacon-Wrapped Pork Medallions in Red Wine and Rosemary Sauce

There is a judge frequently on Iron Chef America who swears that bacon makes everything taste better.  I wanted to test that theory so I bought 4 packages of bacon the last time I was at the grocery store.  Ok, not just because of the judge on Iron Chef America-but because it was on sale, BOGO, and I eat turkey bacon and Jeff likes the regular stuff.  Ok, OK, I admit we might have a problem.  Let's figure out a way to solve it....  Pork wrapped in bacon!!  Jeff always says there is nothing better for dinner than meat and meat!

Bacon-Wrapped Pork Medallions with Red Wine and Rosemary Sauce

adapted from Cook's Illustrated, The New Best Recipe by way of Pink Parsley

Ingredients:

1 pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat (mine was 1.5lbs)

sea salt

pepper

10 slices bacon, thick cut or Applewood smoked

1 Tbsp olive oil

3/4 red wine

2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 tsp rosemary

1 bay leaf

Arrange bacon in a single layer on a cooling rack that is placed on top of a baking sheet with 4 sides.  Bake at 400 degrees for 13 minutes.  Remove from oven, blot excess grease with a paper towel and let cool on cooling rack.

Meanwhile, slice the tenderloin into 1" thick pieces.  Season both sides with salt and pepper and then wrap each medallion with one slice of bacon.  Secure bacon with a toothpick.

Heat oil in cast iron skillet until you see light whisps of smoke come from the oil.  Sear medallions until nicely browned on each side, about 2 minutes per side.  Feel free to do these in batches if they don't all fit in your pan.  Transfer medallions to a plate.

In the same skillet over medium-high heat, pour in the wine (I used a Malbec).  Cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the wine has reduced to about 2-3 Tablespoons.  This took me about 6-7 minutes.

Increase heat to high and add the chicken broth, rosemary and bay leaf to the reduced wine sauce.  Cook until this sauce is reduced to a thicker consistency, about 3-5 minutes.  Place the pork medallions back in the wine sauce, and add any juices from the plate as well.  Continue cooking, about 3 minutes, to heat and cook the pork through, turning once to coat each medallion with the sauce.

Transfer to a plate, remove the toothpicks, spoon additional sauce over each piece if you like and serve immediately with your favorite sides. 

The meat smelled delicious while cooking.  The medallions went from this:

To this:

To served up in the sauce on a plate:

The meat was so tender.  I didn't even think that pork could become that tender from being cooked on the stove top in such a short amount of time, but it was absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  I will be making this dish again and again and again.  We loved every bite.

From the original recipe I omitted the cherries completely, substituting a bay leaf instead and altered the cooking times slightly.  I'm not sure if it was the higher altitude, but the times needed extending for the pork to cook through fully.

Herb Roasted Potatoes

I love those little cubed potatoes they have at some breakfast restaurants.  Le Peep is one I can think of where I can't leave a potato behind!  I like making my own because you can make them a little spicier than restaurants usually do.  These are a bit spicy, not overly so, and delicious with breakfast, lunch, or dinner. 

Herb Roasted Potatoes
Recipe adapted from this recipe at Allrecipes.com
Serves 6

Ingredients:
4 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/8 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp dill weed
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Mix oil and all spices together in a large sized bowl.  Add peeled and cubed potatoes and mix until potatoes are completely coated with oil mixture.  Add more oil if necessary.  Place potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Take potatoes out and increase oven temp to 475 degrees.  Turn potatoes over and continue cooking for an additional 10-15 minutes until nicely browned.  I recommend flipping one more time if you have to cook them longer than 10 minutes.

Margarita Cupcakes

As soon as I heard there was such a thing as Margarita Cupcakes, I wanted one.  And since we were going to a fajita and margarita party this weekend it was a great excuse to make them! 

This task took me 2 tries to get it right.  I had originally tried to make a recipe that I found on a blog that was from scratch, but it just didn't turn out.....right.  The cupcakes didn't rise quite normally and they dropped in the middle while cooling.  Thankfully I had a backup recipe that involved a cake mix, and that worked beautifully!  One of my new favorite blogs, Homemade By Holman, had this recipe along with a cream cheese icing recipe and they did not disappoint!! 

Margarita Cupcakes
Recipe from Homemade by Holman, (slightly adapted by Amy's New Kitchen for high altitude)
Yield: 24 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcakes:

1 box white cake mix

1 cup margarita mix

1/4 cup tequila

1 Tbsp orange juice

3 large egg whites

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3 Tbsp flour
Zest of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 2 muffin tins with 24 liners.  There is no need to spray the liners-the cupckes don't stick to the liners.  Mix margarita mix, tequila, and OJ in a separate bowl.  Add cake mix to your stand mixer bowl, along with the egg whites, oil, flour and margarita/tequila/oj mixture.  Beat on low until all ingredients are blended together, then continue to mix on medium-high for 2 more minutes until mixture thickens slightly.  Add lime zest and mix on medium approx 10 seconds.

 

Spoon batter into muffin liners, filling each 1/2-2/3 full.  Make sure there is an even amount in each liner.  Bake for 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through cooking.  When a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean-they're done!  Remove from oven and let cool approx 5 minutes in the pan then remove. 

 

 

Cream Cheese Icing

Recipe from Homemade by Holman
Yield: enough icing for 24 cupcakes
 
Ingredients for Icing:
8 oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Lime juice of 1 lime (from the zested lime from your cupcakes)
4 cups powdered sugar
4 drops green food coloring
Sprinkles, lime zest, lime wedges for decoration


Beat cream cheese and butter on medium-high speed until mixture is smooth and fluffy.  Add lime juice and beat until combined.  Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, until fully incorporated each time.  Add food coloring one drop at a time until the icing is the color you prefer.  Pipe or spread icing onto fully cooled cupcakes and top with sprinkles, lime wedges, or lime zest.  *Refrigerate cupcakes in an air-tight container if not serving immediately and bring to room temperature a couple hours prior to serving.
 

 
I knew these were going to be a big hit when Jeff tried the first one and gobbled it down.  Then he says-that is my new favorite cupcake!!  He loved that there was an actual 'flavor' to these cupcakes instead of another chocolate, vanilla or yellow cupcake....boring!
 
I also loved this recipe because I went out and bought a piping bag and tips-and we had lots of fun making these cupcakes cute.  I am no expert cupcake decorator though.  I guess I will have to make more cupcakes until I improve.  ;)