Pork Marsala

If you think Chicken Marsala is only a restaurant meal, think again!  It is so easy to make at home, once you try it, you’ll never hesitate to make it for a weeknight meal.  You could probably put it in the thirty-minute meal category if you do a little prep the night before!  What busy household wouldn’t love that?

I made this Marsala with pork and cut my medallions from a pork tenderloin.  Those usually come in a package of two, so I cook one and freeze one.  I’ll show how to use that second loin on another day!  Use a sharp knife to cut the medallions.  I cut them at ¾ an inch thick. 

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

Pork medallions

about a half cup of chopped onion, red and green peppers

8 ounces of sliced mushrooms – you choose your favorite kind

Salt, pepper, Italian spices, flour for dredging the meat

Fresh thyme

3 Tablespoons of butter and an equal portion of olive oil

½ cup of Marsala wine

1 cup of chicken stock

This is easy to fix.  Slowly melt the butter and the olive oil in a big skillet.  Dredge the pork pieces in the flour mixed with salt, pepper and Italian spices.  Use a good Tablespoon of the spices.  Gently fry the meat in the butter/oil, turning the pieces after about 3 minutes.  When you turn the meat, add the onions, peppers and sliced mushrooms.  At this time, sprinkle fresh thyme leaves on the meat. As soon as the vegetables begin to get soft, add the wine and the chicken stock.  Let everything simmer for about 5 minutes.   It’s done!

You’ll notice that I have asparagus spears served alongside my meat.  I actually cooked those on the edge of the skillet, while everything else was simmering.  I served my Marsala with spinach/artichoke noodles.  So good.

 

Pretty Banana Brownies

If you are looking for a nice, sweet snack to take to the office or to a potluck, this is the quick recipe for you!  It is a 4 ingredient muffin, or brownie.  Call it what you like.  It fits both categories.  You start with an 18 ounce brownie mix.  Make sure you use a big mix … the kind that fills a 13 x 9 inch pan.  You are baking, however, in a cupcake tin. 

Ingredients:

1 18 ounce brownie mix

3 bananas

1/3 cup canola oil

3 eggs

Crush the bananas and mix the oil and eggs with them.  Gently fold in the brownie mix.  I like to add about a half cup of chunks of walnuts.

Fill muffin cups half to 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.  Test them with a pick, but you want the center to be a little sticky.  Don’t overbake them and remember that the time required depends on how full the cups are.

Let the brownies cool.  You can leave the brownies in the paper cups and add the icing and chopped nuts to the top.  When I want to serve them in a prettier way, I remove them and place them upside down on a platter.  Then I drizzle the icing over them and sprinkle on chopped nuts.  The icing is simply powdered sugar, a dash of vanilla extract and a little milk or cream.  Thick is better!

There are lots of ways to make this recipe your own.  If you want the banana flavor to be prominent, add banana extract to  the icing.  Coffee extract changes it even more and you can top it with chocolate coated coffee bean.  Pecans instead of walnuts … are perfect.  Butter pecan flavoring in the icing tops that off.  The inclusion of bananas makes the brownies more moist than ever.

These are delicious and fit the bill for this time of year when we need great taste, a great look, but have just a little time.  Enjoy!