Sautéed Pork Tenderloin Medallions with Port, Dried Cherries and Rosemary

Shawn loves Pork Tenderloin and this is a great way to make it with a lot of flavor. I like to make this and serve it with my red skinned roasted garlic mashed potatoes (I'll post that recipe later).

1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
olive oil
2 cloves fresh pressed garlic
1 lb. pork tenderloin trimmed and cut into 1-inch slices. Pound each slice 3/4 inch thick. (I put plastic wrap on counter and then put in pork. Put another piece of plastic wrap on top and then I use my meat mallet, but you can use anything heavy to pound it flat. Tenderloin is a very tender meat so it doesn't take much to get it pounded flat.)
1/3 cup port-I usually substitute apple juice
1/2 cup dried cherries
2/3 cup water mixed with 1 tsp. chicken soup base (this is kind of like bouillon, but a paste that you keep in the fridge)
2 tsp. fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix salt, garlic powder, and pepper together. Sprinkle over both sides of the pork medallions. Put a little olive oil in large skillet over medium high. Add garlic to pan and brown slightly before adding medallions to pan. Working in batch's of no more than six medallions to avoid crowding, sear the pork without moving them until browned on one side about 80 seconds. Turn and sear the other side about 80 seconds or until pork is firm to touch. Transfer to a plate.

Set the now empty skillet used to cook the pork over medium high heat and add port/apple juice and cherries to pan. Cook scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula to loosen any browned bits until the liquid in the pan reduces to about 2 Tablespoons (about 2-3 minutes). Increase the heat slightly and add chicken broth, rosemary and any meat juices from the plate. Stir often until sauce is the consistency of maple syrup. Add olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste.

Reduce the heat to medium and return pork to pan, turning the meat to coat. Simmer to heat the pork through, about 3 minutes. Transfer pork to serving plate and spoon sauce over meat. Serve immediately.

Each 4 oz. cooked portion of tenderloin with sauce has approximately 200 calories, 7.4 grams total fat.