Pork Medallions in BBQ Sauce

The sauce within the Hairy Dieters’ Pork Medallions in BBQ Sauce recipe is gorgeous – red wine vinegar, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and orange juice – creating that lovely barbecue flavour effect. In fact, it was so nice that I was worried about reducing it down too much and in the end my sauce (as the photo indicates) was a tad too runny.

I don’t think this recipe represents a meal on its down, and as per the Hairy Dieters’ recommendation I bulked this out with some sweet potato mash and sweetcorn. My teenage son Will is a big fan of this dish and it’s an easy way to get him to eat vege when he’s ‘distracted’ by the meat and sauce ;-).

If you love BBQ related coatings, check out Sticky Chicken with Coleslaw – another big hit with the kids!

Recipe: Pork Medallions in BBQ Sauce

Calories: 239 calories per serving WITHOUT mash and/or vege

Serves: 4

Book: Hairy Dieters – Fast Food

Prep time: Approx 15 mins

Cooking time: Approx 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 pork tenderloin trimmed of fat (about 600g)
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• Flaked sea salt
• Ground black pepper

BBQ sauce:

• ½ onion (roughly chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves (roughly chopped)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• Juice of 1 orange
• 250ml chicken stock
• 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
• ½ tsp hot sauce (optional)

Cost per portion: Approx £2.39 (to include sweet potato mash and sweetcorn)

Method: Cut the tenderloin into 1 ½ – 2cm slices – you should get about 16 pieces. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then set it aside for a few minutes.

For the sauce, put the onion and garlic in a blender or food processor with the red wine vinegar, tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce and soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper, then blitz until you have a smooth sauce. Tip this into a small saucepan and add the orange juice, stock, maple syrup and the hot sauce, if using.

Bring the mixture to the boil and allow it to bubble quite fiercely for about 10 minutes or until it has reduced by half to a third and is thick and syrupy. Keep stirring the sauce regularly to make sure it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan. Turn down the heat and leave the sauce to simmer while you start cooking the pork.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Add the pork slices and sear them on each side for a minute. You’ll probably need to do this in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. When all the slices are seared, put them back into the pan. Pour over the sauce and leave the pork to simmer for at least 5 minutes, until it’s cooked through and has added flavour to the sauce.