Pork Medallions with Béarnaise Sauce

How to prepare pork medallions with béarnaise sauce

1. Remove the tenderloin from the refrigerator and clean off all the white membranes. Cut into 2 cm thick slices (count 2-3 slices per person; the photos show only 5 slices cut from half a tenderloin). Sprinkle with salt (a bit more than usual) and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, put all the reduction ingredients in a small saucepan. Simmer until only about one tablespoon of liquid remains. Strain the reduction through a fine sieve and let it cool down.
3. Melt the clarified butter.
4. Put the egg yolks together with the reduction in a small saucepan. Place over a double boiler and whisk the yolks until they thicken and fall from the whisk in a thick ribbon (just over 5 minutes).
5. Turn off the heat under the steam pot and slowly start adding the melted butter to the egg yolk cream (in a thin stream, like oil for mayonnaise). Add the chopped tarragon leaves and very little salt to the sauce.
7. The sauce is ready, but keep it over the steam until serving. If it has thickened a bit by serving time, add 1-2 teaspoons of water and stir. With a little water you can adjust the consistency as desired (thicker, to stay on the spoon, or thinner, to flow). In this recipe I left it without water so I could pipe it nicely on the meat. However, if I were pouring it over vegetables (green beans for example), I would thin it a bit.
8. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet. Sprinkle the pork medallions with ground black pepper. Fry in the pan for 2.5-3 minutes on each side. If you have time and patience, you can hold the medallions with tongs and sear them for a few seconds on the edges, all around.
9. Remove the medallions to a plate and let them rest for 5 minutes.
10. Serve the pork medallions with Béarnaise sauce.

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