This is one of the simplest recipes we ever tried, yet one of the most delicious. We usually cook mushroom cream pork medallions at least once a month during the mushroom season, sometimes as often as twice a week. Our favourite place to get them from is Borough Market. We are no fans of the mushrooms on offer in most supermarkets, where quite often there are two varieties: “white mushrooms” and “brown mushrooms”. While at the Market, we stop by the Ginger Pig, who are not as good as they used to be anymore, but still one of the better places to get meat from in London. We are very good eaters, so often go for 700g or more of pork medallions for the two of us. 200g per person should probably do the job, though, if you want to take it easy on the meat.
Ingredients for 2 portions
(pork medallions only, not including sides, which can be varied)
400g mushrooms
400g pork medallions
150g double cream
80g Dijon mustard (no seeds)
1 cube chicken stock
125g butter
Corn starch
Black pepper
White pepper
Nutmeg
Parsley (ideally freshly cut)
Hard cheese for grating (e.g. emmental, parmesan, or similar)
We got some vegetables and gnocchi for sides and make sure that we have got butter, double cream, Dijon mustard (no seeds), chicken stock, corn starch, and some nice hard cheese to grate in our fridge, then the cooking can commence: First you cut the pork medallion into little pieces, then you clean and slice the mushrooms (smaller mushrooms do not need to be sliced).
We usually start off with the side dishes (here: gnocchi and zucchini), because either they stay warm anyway or they can easily be heated up again. We find it’s good to have that out of your way so that you can plough on with the main dish without a worry.
Next step: you put a chicken stock cube (we prefer Knorr cubes, the ones without MSG, some do contain MSG, so need to read the label) and a table spoon or so of corn starch into 200ml of boiling water until dissolved and leave it stand for now. Please remember that the chicken stock already contains significant amounts of salt, so by all chance, unless you really love your salt, there is no need to add additional salt at any stage.
Then you start pan-frying the pork medallions in plenty of butter at medium heat for just a few minutes max (depending on the thickness of the slices), so that they are still medium-rare. Then you add the mushrooms on top of the meat, basically let them steam for a little bit while the pork medallions still sizzle quietly underneath at low heat. After roughly another three minutes or so you start mixing everything up and stirrling, thoroughly checking the pork for its level of cooking. At any cost you want to avoid eating medium or rare pork, because it poses a serious health risk. (Many people will tell you otherwise, but I’m from pork country in Bavaria and let me tell you we’d rather put a pencil in our eye than eat medium or rare pork, it’s just a complete no-go.) A slightly pink touch in the completed dish is what you’re looking for. You definitely want to avoid overcooking it, because it will get very chewy, even hard. So keep your eyes trained on the meat. Keep an eye on the chicken stock with corn starch and stir it to make sure that it is properly thick and gravy-like, add more corn starch and stir until dissolved, if necessary. If your side dishes have started to cool off, then consider heating them up again now, because you’re nearly done with the cooking.
At the very last second, just when the pork is starting to turn from medium towards pink, you switch the stove to full heat and add the chicken stock, plus plenty of mustard and double cream as well as a few herbs and spices according to your tastes. We prefer a healthy amount of nutmeg, some black and some white pepper.
Depending on the thickness and level of cooking of the pork medallions, the thickness of the stock, and your personal preferences, leave the concoction to boil at full steam for as little as 30 seconds up to perhaps two minutes, typically no longer. Put the whole two portions on two plates (small portions do not keep warm for long), then sprinkle some parsley and grated cheese on top. Serve immediately to preserve the texture. Let us know how the recipe worked for you.
Looking for more food-related posts? Check out our posts about Michelin-starred Benoit and our food tours in Paris and Cambridge.
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