We got home from a friend’s house after 6 pm and I had only an hour before I had to go out.  We’d been busy since 1 that afternoon so I hadn’t considered what I was making for dinner until the moment we got in the door.  Luckily I had a full fridge (due to so much snow, I was prepared) so I knew I could come up with something. 

I figured a pork loin is fairly fast to make, and I sped up the cooking by slicing it into one inch medallions and sautéing them.  I had spread a thin layer of Dijon mustard on one side before I put them in the hot pan.  While they were cooking I steamed spinach then added leftover broccoli to the pot to reheat.   I turned the medallions over and also threw some leftover penne pasta into the microwave with an inch of water for one minute.  Then stirred and repeated to properly reheat. 

Took the pork off the heat, let it rest and added beef broth (veal demi glace would have been preferable) to the pan.  Brought that up to a boil and added white wine then cream, Manuka honey (New Zealand honey with distinctive flavor), and touch more mustard.  Stirred that into a nice sauce, put the pork back in it for a moment, then served. 20 minutes from taking the pork out of the refrigerator to putting it on the table. 

The pork was superbly tender and tasty.  I loved the extra dimension the Manuka honey lent to it.  The boys liked it all but not the fact that the babysitter was coming.  It was short lived once I promised them she’d give them ice cream regardless if they actually finished their meals!