Oh. My.Goodness. Tonight's Dinner? Sublime.

I made an AWESOME meal tonight. And I have MrsVJW of Diary of the Suburban Hausfrau to thank for it since she sent the recipe for the pork to Just Ask Rosie at RosieHawthorne@aim.com, wanting me to try it and report back to her. But first, my side dish. It's going to be a molded rice dish with fruits and nuts

I started out by sauteeing a cup of arborio rice in about 2 tablespoons of butter. Arborio rice is a short grained Italian rice used in risotto dishes. The high starch content creates a super creamy texture.

I sauteed the rice for about 3-4 minutes...

... then added about half a cup of white wine, stirring until the wine was absorbed.

Since pineapple chunks are going into this dish, I drained the pineapple juice into the rice, stirring over low heat until dissolved.

I thawed out one of my quarts of chicken consomme and added 1 cup, a quarter cup at a time, stirring until absorbed. I added maybe another cup of wine, just a little bit at a time, stirring.

The process took about 40 minutes but is well worth the time since the creaminess of risotta is unlike anything else.

The ingredients for my molded rice dish: maraschino cherries pineapple 1/2 cup brown sugar honey

1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup almonds handful chopped dried apricots handful raisins small handful of chopped dates

First I put a layer of the rice in my buttered bowl, then some cherries and pineapple.

Another layer of rice, then more fruits, some nuts and some brown sugar.

Honey's always good.

Just keep layering with rice and the other ingredients.

Smooth out the rice layer on top.

And add some of the brown sugar.

And a little cherry juice never hurt anything.

I put a small colander inside a large pan and added water.

And placed the rice bowl in the colander. The water should come about halfway up the side of the bowl. I dotted with butter ...

... and covered with buttered wax paper.

I brought the water to a simmer, then put a lid on, and gently simmered for 40 minutes.

Then carefully inverted the bowl.

Isn't this pretty?

In fact, I thought it was so pretty I had to keep turning it and shooting pictures.

OK, enough rice. Let's get to the meat of the matter - MrsVJW's recipe she sent to me. "Pork Medallions with Grapes in Pomegranate Sauce"

I just happened to have pork tenderloins in my freezer (sale priced $2.99/pound at Harris Teeter). Actually, I have most any kind of meat in my freezer you could want, at any given time. After trimming the silverskin and most of the fat off, I cut the loin into 1-inch slices and salted and peppered them.

The rest of my ingredients: 1/2 cup of my homemade chicken consomme 1/2 cup pomegranate juice (Which I just happened to have on hand since I won a case - Thanks to Judy of Judy's Kitchen.) 2 TB ketchup 1 cup seedless green grapes dried cherries and cranberries handful of arugula

I heated my butter and olive oil in a large, heavy skillet, then added the loins, cooking over high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.

I flipped them over and cooked another two minutes, then seared around the sides for a minute or two more. Most people over cook pork. I like it slightly pink in the center.

I removed the medallions from the pan and set in a warm oven while I prepared the pomegranate sauce.

Chicken consomme was added to the pan. (Use low sodium chicken stock if you don't make your own. But if you don't, you should because there's no comparison.)

Then pomegranate juice.

I brought this mixture to a boil, then reduced the heat to low and cooked, covered for about 4-5 minutes.

Next, the ketchup went in.

And the grapes.

And the dried cherries and cranberries.

Boil for about a minute until the sauce is smooth and slightly thickened.

I plated my pork medallions and poured the sauce over top, albeit none too carefully. Oh my. This is starting to look like a crime scene.

Lastly, I sprinkled on the arugula.

Let me introduce you to tonight's dinner. A perfectly cooked, slightly on the rare side, juicy, pork medallion, ensconced in a pomegranate/chicken consomme sauce with green grapes, dried cranberries, and dried cherries. With shredded arugula on top. With a side of home made apple sauce. With a side of my rice.

I didn't realize it until looking at this picture, but that's one huge grape on top of the pork.

The rice was creamy, sweet, fruity, and nutty.

Mr. Hawthorne declared, "This meal is a treat."

"Excellent."

"A trophy meal."

"A keeper." This is how pork should look. Slightly pink. Pink pork = porfect. Thanks again, MrsVJW, for a terrific recipe.