Pork Medallions with Pear

I pulled the recipe for Pork Medallions with Pear from February's issue of Good Housekeeping and tucked it away in my recipe binder.  While looking for a pork recipe this afternoon, I came across it and decided to try it out.  Although after re-reading the recipe I wasn't too sure I'd like it; it seemed too plain or something... but I went ahead and made it anyway.

This dish turned out to be a quick,
 tasty, and healthy weeknight meal!

Instead of using a 1 lb. tenderloin, I used a thick boneless pork chop sliced in half (it was probably only 6oz. total).  After sauteing the pork and removing it from the pan, I added the fennel and toasted for 30 seconds.  The aroma was so fantastic!  Since I didn't have green onion, I added about half an onion diced, a little more olive oil, and the garlic.  I let it cook for a few minutes, then deglazed the pan with the water.  I added the pear (I just had one pear that I sliced), lemon juice, and salt and let cook according to the directions then returned the pork to the pan.


Instead of cutting the recipe in half since I only had half the amount of pork, I decided to keep the same amount of each ingredient of the sauce.  That way, I would have lots of extra sauce to add to the quinoa side dish.


I was happily surprised with this meal!  I really thought that it would be a bore and the pear and fennel combo wouldn't work but it was delicious.  Gordy really liked it and Baby Gordy enjoyed the quinoa with the sauce on it.  I'll put this recipe in the rotation!

Pizza! Pizza!

I have always used frozen pizza dough or a pre-made crust and canned or jarred pizza sauce to make my own homemade pizza.  I know, it's so unlike me!  Well after seeing this recipe in the February 2012 issue of Better Homes and Gardens I made myself make my own homemade dough and sauce.  I've been kicking myself ever since. How much time and money have I wasted buying the ingredients for pizza when it is sooooo easy to make it at home!

really good homemade pizza
is so easy to make!

First I made the dough.I used my mixer and didn't need to add any extra flour or water.  After letting the dough sit for 30 minutes, I divided it into four sections.  I took three and wrapped them up and froze them for later.  It says in the directions to refrigerate the dough overnight.  I was having pizza for dinner that night, so I just left it out.  I did not find that the dough doubled in size at all.  It puffed up a bit after a while and I punched it down to let it rise again.  But it never really doubled. Maybe if I had put it in the fridge... but I really didn't think that it affected the outcome.


I made the sauce according to the directions except instead of garlic powder, I used raw garlic.  I tasted the sauce and thought 'hmm, where is the flavor?'  So I added an extra 1/2 t basil, oregano, thyme and 1/4 t pepper.  Now I had sauce!  


The dough was easy to roll out and the pizza was easy to assemble.  Overall, so simple, so easy and so tasty!  My husband and son really liked it a lot.  If you make it at home, let me know what you think of the sauce and if you added more flavor to it.  I'll let you know how the defrosted dough turns out!


Scroll down through the Pizza article to get to the All-Purpose Sauce and All-Purpose Dough recipes.  Enjoy!!