Pork medallions with golden beets and blue grits

I guess I’m finally tired enough of eating premenstrual cravings for dinner every night and can cook again, but I still don’t feel like busting out a carefully-metered recipe at 10:00 on a work night. So I’ll just describe and you can figure it out.

Pork tenderloin medallions, 1″ thick, S&P. Sear in a pan, finish to medium in the oven, rest for a few minutes. (I don’t believe in trichinosis, because this isn’t the 1800s. I eat pork a little on the less-than-well-done side.) Deglaze pan with some budget pinot noir and some pomegranate molasses (leftover from January RFJ). You can add some golden raisins or a mince of dried apricots, if you like. This is a lovely thing to do.

Roasted golden beets: scrub the dirt off the skins, salt and toss in olive oil. Roast until tender. Toss with a drizzle of walnut oil, some toasted pumpkin seeds, a splash of white balsamic and a pinch of Maldon.

Blue grits: 50-50 coarse grind yellow corn meal and blue corn meal (I couldn’t find coarse-grind blue cornmeal) . Heat some milk with a pinch of salt to a dull roar, drizzle in the corn meal (stirring) until porridge-like. Simmer on low for a few, then stir in a handful of frozen corn kernels and crumbled blue cheese (I used Danish). Spread this out on a silpat or some parchment, cover loosely with foil and bake until the bottom is crispy-cheesy (like 15 minutes). The crispy, browned crust on the bottom is manna from heaven and is, alone, worth this effort.

This is how I think all recipes should be written, anyway. If you spend as much time in your kitchen as I think you should, you would need only see a list of ingredients to make something incredible edible.