Solomillo al Whisky Sevillano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy frying pan, 28 to 30cm
• •Deep heavy saucepan or fryer, at least 4 litres
• •Oil thermometer
• •Instant-read meat thermometer
• •Wire rack or paper-lined tray
• •Slotted spoon or frying spider

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the potatoes

   Put the cut potatoes in cold water for 10 minutes, then rinse until the water is nearly clear. Drain and dry them thoroughly between clean towels. Water left on a potato makes the frying oil spit, and a wet surface browns poorly.

   Keep every baton close to 1cm thick. Thin scraps burn during the second fry while thick pieces remain heavy in the middle.
2. 2

   Par-fry the potatoes

   Heat the mild olive oil to 150°C in a deep, heavy pan, leaving at least 8cm of empty space above the oil. Fry the potatoes in two batches for 6 to 8 minutes per batch. They should be tender when pierced but still pale. Lift them onto a rack or paper-lined tray and leave them for at least 10 minutes while you cook the pork.

   Let the oil return to 150°C before adding the second batch. Crowding cool oil gives you soft, greasy potatoes.
3. 3

   Brown the medallions

   Pat the pork dry and season it evenly with 6g of the salt and all the pepper. Heat 30ml of the extra virgin olive oil in a wide frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, brown the medallions in a single layer for 60 to 90 seconds per side. Work in two batches if necessary. They need a deep golden surface but should remain underdone in the centre. Transfer them and their juices to a plate.

4. 4

   Soften the garlic

   Lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 15ml extra virgin olive oil with the crushed, unpeeled garlic. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, turning the cloves, until their skins blister and the garlic smells sweet. Keep it golden, not dark. Burnt garlic makes the whole sauce bitter.

5. 5

   Reduce the whisky

   Take the pan off the heat before pouring in the whisky. Return it to medium-high heat and scrape up every browned bit from the base. Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the whisky has reduced by about half and its raw alcoholic smell has softened. There is no need to set it alight. Add the stock, lemon juice and 2g salt, then simmer briskly for 7 to 9 minutes. The sauce is ready when the bubbles look tighter and a spatula drawn across the pan leaves a clear path for one second.

6. 6

   Finish pork in sauce

   Return the medallions and their collected juices to the pan. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2 to 4 minutes, turning the meat once, until its centre reaches 63°C. Take the pan off the heat, add the cold butter and move the pan in small circles until the sauce turns glossy and lightly coats the pork. Rest everything off the heat for 3 minutes. This is the point that matters: thicken the sauce before the meat goes back, not by boiling the tenderness out of the pork.

   If the sauce still looks thin when the pork is ready, move the meat to a warm plate and reduce the liquid alone for another minute. Return the meat only after the pan leaves the heat.
7. 7

   Crisp potatoes and serve

   Raise the potato oil to 190°C. Fry the potatoes again in two batches for 90 seconds to 2 minutes, until deeply golden and crisp at the edges. Drain well and season at once with the remaining 4g salt. Spread them across a warm oval platter, arrange the pork over the middle, and spoon on all the whisky sauce and garlic cloves. Serve immediately, while the outer potatoes are still crisp and those beneath have begun to drink the sauce.

Chef Tips

• •Buy two small tenderloins rather than one unusually thick piece if that gives you more even medallions. The meat should be pink, firm and moist without sitting in liquid. Remove every strip of silver skin because it tightens in the pan and bends the slices.
• •Use a modest blended whisky with no heavy peat smoke. DYC works if you find it, as does a basic blended Scotch. A strongly smoky whisky turns medicinal beside the lemon and garlic, and an expensive bottle is simply expensive sauce.
• •Leave the garlic skins on and crush each clove just enough to split it. The skin protects the garlic during cooking, while the inside becomes soft enough to press onto a potato with a fork.
• •Agria is the frying potato commonly wanted here. Maris Piper or russet potatoes are dependable substitutes abroad. A waxy potato will hold its shape, but its centre stays firmer and takes up less sauce.
• •Mild olive oil gives the potatoes the right savoury finish. High-oleic sunflower oil is the practical substitute if olive oil is too costly where you live; the potatoes will taste cleaner and less fruity.
• •If the finished sauce is too sharp, add 30ml more unsalted stock and reduce it briefly. Don’t add sugar or cream. If it is too thin, remove the pork and boil the sauce alone.
• •Pour fino or manzanilla alongside. Their dry, salty edge clears the rich sauce better than a heavy red wine.

Advance Preparation

• •Trim and slice the pork up to 8 hours ahead. Keep it covered in the refrigerator, then take it out 20 minutes before cooking so the medallions brown evenly.
• •Cut the potatoes up to 6 hours ahead and keep them submerged in cold water in the refrigerator. Drain and dry them completely before frying.
• •The first potato fry can be done up to 24 hours ahead. Cool the potatoes promptly in one layer, refrigerate them once cold, and give them the second fry directly from the refrigerator.
• •Measure the whisky, stock and lemon juice before guests arrive, keeping each in a separate container. The pork and sauce take about 15 minutes once the pan is hot.
• •Leftover pork and sauce keep covered in the refrigerator for 2 days. Reheat them gently in a pan with 30ml stock. The sauced potatoes won’t recover their crispness, so fry fresh ones if serving the leftovers to company.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 310g)