The Silver Skin Pickup. Sandwich, Stock, and Jus. Another Improvised Panini Maker.
Day 2 of mushroom experiment. The grocery store container is starting to get a bit slimy but still edible.
The egg carton mushrooms are bone dry and taste good. This may be worth the effort after all.
Filet “Manager’s Special” I assume that’s because when I opened it, it smelled very special indeed. Into the garbage with you.
Luckily I’m never far away from a tenderloin of some fashion.
The silver skin kicked my ass a little on these. I hate when instead of sitting nicely over the meat it heads right for the center. It’s an annoyance. I just did my best and used the scrap for some stock.
When life gives you sliver skin, make pork stock. Low and slow for 4 hours.
This is all I’m doing to the pork. I patted it very dry and sprinkles kosher salt on all sides.
That’s it.
We are going to let the salt do it’s thing for about 30 minutes. Any longer than that and I’d probably do it in the fridge.
Why always medallions? Good question. The grain of tenderloin runs lengthwise. So by cutting medallions you are always cutting against the grain which will ensure a moist, tender bite every time.
In my skillet I’ve got some avocado oil and about a tablespoon of beef tallow.
You remember the beef tallow? Right?
The temp is set at medium HIGH. I’m crusting/caramelizing the pork. I’m not going to try to cook it through. Don’t get scared if it gets smoky. That’s just more flavor.
Fast heat and get all sides, including the ends. That goes in a 375f oven for 10 minutes.
My panini maker has yet to arrive so I improvised another rig. I let this medium skillet rust as I forgot about it and went out of town leaving it on the stove. I’ve been saving it as the bottom of a smoker that I haven’t got around to building yet. Just to be safe I wrapped it in foil.
Pork is done. I rested it on the counter for 20 minutes before slicing.
While the meat took it’s nap I poured beef broth into my skillet to deglaze and make a jus.
That got reduced by half.
Jus was set to the side. The skillet stayed on the burner to dry out before I added a tablespoon of butter.
Time to slice the pig. Perfectly pink inside. If it’s gray ya screwed tha pooch. Start over.
Seriously.
I built the sandwich with mustard, thinly sliced pork, caramelized onions and a slice of white American cheese on a steamed baguette. That went into the improvised panini maker. The two skillets worked much better than the pot I used the other day.
Served with tots and remoulade sauce.
This is the melt I got with just the panini doohickey. No other additional heat. The pork is pink and thin enough to look like ham.
My jus is DARK! that’s what I wanted to see.
It’s pretty obvious what I was going for with the beef here. But hey, this is a great meal. And my bread dilemma is pretty much over. A week’s worth of sandwiches and French toast will do that. I’m comfortable making bread in the house again.
Yes I drank the remaining jus. There’s not much better than that.
And I’ve got almost 12 ounces of pork stock for free. The pork tenderloin cost me 7 bucks. I’ll get 4 meals out of both easily. The second loin is in the freezer.
And I gained a dollar back by making the broth.
I’m nothing if not parsimonious.
This morning I cranked out my layouts for work so tonight it’s back to the Tee-shirt designs and then lettering another page of the graphic novel.
Orzo says hi.
