And cranberries save the day!

Taste of Home photo

Mondays can be a bit treacherous. When you have the weight of the atmosphere that just won't give in and rain pressing in on your scalp, and a nasty head ache that has stretched its mangy tentacles around your cranial nerves and won't let go, Monday can be especially treacherous.

So after actually navigating through my work day, I need an easy meal. But one with lots of flavor, that was as good for my soul as it was for my mouth! 

Cranberry Pork Medallions - these have been a Taste of Home rescued stand by for a while now. It's the type of meal that takes 8 minutes of prep, but can sit simmering on the stove until you're actually ready to eat. And it pairs really nicely with noodles, or rice, or steamed red potatoes (with butter and parsley!) 

And it's versatile too! You can actually spend the extra buck to get medallions that look fancy, or you can use pork tenderloin.  And you can use the actual recipe, or you can do it my way. 

Here's your process:

Brown pork in olive oil, salt, and pepper until cooked through. (Brown is kind of  misleading term. Pork never actually gets anything other than pasty white, so remember to sauce!) 

Once done, remove, set aside. In warm skillet mix 1/2 cup cranberry sauce, 2 tablespoon BBQ sauce of choice, 1 tablespoon water, 2 cloves garlic (or whatever you have left in the fridge!) and 1 teaspoon Five Spice Powder. 

Now, I don't keep that in the house, never actually heard of it. So I did a little recipe. It is so named because it is made of 5 spices that touch each of the tastes on the pallet. So I mix about 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon, cumin, salt, ginger, and mustard. It works pretty well. 

Mix well, allow to boil, then add pork. Reduce heat, simmer at least 2 minutes until thick. Then, serve, or reduce heat to lowest setting and allow to simmer for up to 30 minutes. 

The cranberry flavor isn't overly strong, but the sauce it creates is full and sweet. We had it last night with steamed potatoes and apple slices...and all in all, it was about the perfect meal. And it's even better if you're listening to Kennedy's Kitchen while you make it (which you can read all about right over here).