What's cooking Wednesday

It is Week 2 of going through Taste for Justice: A Bridgehead Cookbook and let me say "Hurrah for this cookbook!" I've always liked the recipes I've tried from this book but I always go back to the same three or four. Tonight I tried something completely new: pork medallions with cashews and apricots. The whole family loved this, even Hope who tends to eat only vegetables lately. It is a recipe that has a big wow factor but is really easy to prepare. I would definitely make this for a special dinner and yet prepare it just for us too. It's that easy (provided you have port in the house) and that good. That being said, I didn't have cashews so I used pecans instead and it worked great.

Pork Medallions with Cashews (or Pecans) and Apricots

1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin rounds and pounded into scallops
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup port
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup cashews (or pecans or whatever nut you like) coarsely chopped
1 cup whipping cream (I used 1/2 and 1/2)

Pat pork dry and season lightly with s&p. Dust with flour. Melt butter in large flat skillet. Cook pork scallops in batches, 1 or 2 minutes on each side. Transfer to serving platter and keep warm.

Pour off excess fat. Add onion and port to skillet; bring to a boil, stirring up browned bits from bottom of pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until sauce is reduced to a 1/4 cup. Add apricots, cashews, and cream. Cook, stirring continuously for 5 minutes, or until sauce has thickened. Pour over warm pork scallops.

The photo doesn't do this dish justice. The photo kind of makes it look like dog food. Don't be fooled. It looked much better in person and tasted phenomenal. And it made enough to put another meal in the freezer.