Today I have been focused on getting a few more job applications out and haven’t left the apartment. It’s the eve of Ireland’s partial re-opening, so it will be interesting to see how much the streets of Dublin will change starting tomorrow. With only a few weeks to go before Christmas, I imagine folks will be frantically making up for lost time with their holiday shopping.
One of the Dublin’s holidays decorations that reads “Nollaig Shona Duit” (Happy Christmas):
This year Ireland has been marking the 100th anniversary of many milestone events in the Irish War of Independence that occurred in 1920. One such event was mentioned over the weekend in a controversial tweet by a Sinn Féin party elected official named Brian Stanley, who serves as a Teachta Dála (TD), or a member of the Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas or Irish Parliament (similar to a member of the House of Representatives in the U.S.).
The event that took place 100 years ago on November 28 was the Kilmichael Ambush in 1920 undertaken by the IRA in retribution the the Bloody Sunday killings of Dublin citizens attending a football match a week before. But the TD also evoked the Warrenpoint (aka Narrow Water) Massacre in 1979 (carried out the same day of the Mountbatten assassination), which seemed to really stir up emotions. The tweet glorified the violence of these events and was flippantly insensitive to the families whose loved ones were killed or injured:
The TD apologised and deleted the tweet, and o
ther members of the Sinn Féin party, which has been historically associated with the IRA, have responded saying the tweet was inappropriate and wrong. There have been calls for the TD to resign from committee leadership roles and his seat altogether, but it does not sound like Sinn Féin is going to take any additional disciplinary action. Today on the RTÉ Radio afternoon talk show, one of the mothers of the 18 British soldiers killed in 1979 called in, and a brother of another solider killed has been quoted in an Irish Times article. As distant as these events might seem, clearly Ireland is still healing from the deep scars of its history and divisions in society.
On a lighter topic, for dinner tonight I made another one of my favorite recipes: Pork Loin Medallions with Lemon-Thyme Cream Sauce.
STEP ONE — Prepare the marinade with a generous tablespoon of fresh thyme leaves, 2-3 cloves of garlic, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 teaspoons of grated lemon rind, and some salt:
STEP TWO — It seems that pork loin here is labeled as “pork steak.” I usually aim for 1-1.5 lbs for this recipe, trimming some of the large pieces of fat off before slicing it crosswise into 0.5-1.0” medallions:
STEP THREE — Marinade the pork for at least 1 hour in the fridge:
STEP FOUR — Melt 1-2 tbsps butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat, then brown the pork medallions on each side, turning once, roughly 5 minutes per side:
The butter got a little burned, I’m still getting used to cooking on an electric stove-top, but not too bad:
When both sides are browned, remove the pork medallions to a plate and keep warm (I used my mini-oven):
STEP FIVE — Add any remaining marinade to the pan and 1 cup heavy/whipping cream. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer until the cream thickens, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
STEP SIX — Once the sauce has thickened/reduced (about 10 minutes), then add the pork medallions back to the pan and turn to coat both sides, reheat the medallions if needed, then serve. Be sure to spoon some extra sauce on top of the medallions!
I usually serve roasted broccolini / baby broccoli as a side veggie — just toss with salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil and cook under broiler for 6-8 minutes.
Until next time…
