Heavenly Orange Pork Fritters

I had a hard time coming up with a name for this recipe.   sigh   I had this long and wonderful and totally descriptive name for this, but then people kept calling them Pork Fritters, so they are now Heavenly Orange Pork Fritters.

I went to the 'big city' with a friend last week and we stopped in at this little store, called Smashing Olive.   Big mistake on my part.   I tried several of the oils and could have drunk a glass full of the Balsamic Vinegar, it was so good.

The mistake on my part?  Well, I only bought a couple of the oils and vinegars and now I have to go back and buy more.  But, I can wait for a week or two before I go back there.

maybe

At any rate, it was Boat Club this week.   We've had a summer hiatus, and  people are now back and chomping at the bit and ready to cook and eat and enjoy themselves.

I decided to try using the Mandarin Fused Olive Oil along with the Balsamic Vinegar to make a marinade for the pork tenderloin.   I whisked together roughly equal parts, with a little more oil than vinegar.  Then I went out to the garden and raided my oregano plant and used my mezzaluna to chop up the oregano leaves. 

Added those into the marinade and coated the tenderloin and stuck them in the fridge.  After an hour, I decided that I needed to add a minced clove or two of garlic to the marinade, and then the ginger said, use me too, so I used my microplane and added about a half teaspoonful.    I love keeping ginger in the freezer, even if it talks to me sometimes, it's just so handy. 

I was trying to keep it simple.

Recipe:   Orange Infused Marinade for Pork Tenderloin, makes enough for one small tenderloin.
2 tablespoons Mandarin (orange)  Fused Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated Ginger

Whisk together, coat the tenderloin and place in fridge  for at least 3 hours.  
To make the fritters: 
Take out the tenderloin, slice thinly and then using a meat mallet, pound thin.   Dredge in flour, egg and then Panko Bread Crumbs and fry in a little neutral oil. 

Detailed instructions follow. 

I didn't make a whole lot of marinade, so I used one of my trusty gloves and massaged the marinade into the pork tenderloins, very gently.  I didn't want all that porky goodness to be overtaken by the orange, I just wanted a hint, to enhance. 

After they'd had a chance to rest in the fridge for a few hours, I took them out, cut them into little cutlets and proceeded to use my meat mallet on them.

You can get out a lot of frustrations that way.

I pounded them out quite thin, then did the flour dip, then an egg wash and finally  pressed them into some panko, and fried them quickly in a little hot oil.

When the pork is pounded out this thin, it only takes a minute or so to cook, so just go ahead and brown them on each side.  I use peanut oil to fry them, as it is a mild oil.

You know I taste tested this as well.
There was a lovely hint of orange in finished pork fritter, before dipping it into the dipping sauce I made.  I think maybe I could have used more of the oil, and maybe next time I will.

I'm thinking of all kinds of ways to use this Mandarin Fused Oil.    

  I served the fritters with a dipping sauce and I'll share that recipe with you later on.     The dipping sauce is what totally blew this away.