Pork Parmesan

My wife, Kim, came up with this recipe. She is a really good cook. Everyone knows about veal parmesan.....I never make it. Veal is somewhat hard to get, and honestly, despite my redneck roots, it just doesn't seem quite right to do that to a calf......It may be nonsensical, but I had no such reservations about eating this pig! Anyway, the little boneless pork chops are cheap and easy to find here, and the meat is more flavorful than veal too.

OK, first, you make a red sauce....Pomodoro sauce works fine for me.
   1 large can of good tomatoes....IMHO....San Marzano are the best
    3 cloves of garlic, minced
    1/2 an onion, chopped
     3 tbsp olive oil
     4 or five basil leaves, chiffonade.

Saute the onions in a stainless steel pan (not cast iron) until translucent, then add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes.

Then add the tomatoes and basil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Process with an immersion blender or food processor

(I think this is the only thing I use an immersion blender for....)

Correct with salt and pepper and its done.

Now, for the piggy.

Boneless, Thin Cut, Pork Loin Chops

Trim the rim of fat from them.

Salt and pepper.

Whip three eggs with a whisk.

Finely grate Reggiano Parmesan cheese.

Mix grated cheese with Panko bread crumbs.

Dip meat into egg wash, then coat each side with the Panko Parmesan mix

Heat oil in cast iron skillet until 375 degrees. Use enough oil to coat the bottom of the skillet well.

Saute the meat over medium high heat. It will only take a few minutes per side.

Put the meat on a cookie sheet

Spoon a couple tablespoons of the Pomodoro Sauce onto the meat, then add a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese. Cook in a 375 degree oven for 15 minutes, and then broil for one minute to finish the cheese.

I served this with whole wheat pasta, more Pomodoro Sauce, and a simple salad with vinaigrette dressing.

And a little slice of Goat cheese.

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P. F. Chang's  Chicken Lettuce Wraps
We love eating at PF Chang's. Too bad there is not one here in The View. I found this recipe online, and have modified it a bit. It hit the spot last night for supper.

3 tablespoons oil 
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
1 cup water chestnuts 
2/3 cup mushrooms 
3 tablespoons chopped onions 
1 teaspoon minced garlic 
4-5 leaves iceberg lettuce 


Stir Fry Sauce 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons brown sugar 
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar 


 
 
Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side, or until they are done, in a skillet or wok.
Remove chicken from the pan and cool. 

As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas. 
Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. 
When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are. 
With the pan still on high heat, add another 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil. 
Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes. 
Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and saute the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce"cups". Sirachi and "special sauce" on the side, as you desire.

If you want it, here is the recipe for the "Special Sauce"  The chicken really didn't need it though. 
1/4 cup sugar 
1/2 cup water 
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
2 tablespoons ketchup 
1 tablespoon lemon juice 
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil 





Make the special sauce by dissolving the sugar in water in a small bowl. 
Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. 
Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve.
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Clafoutis and Flaugnarde

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I didn't know about these until I discovered a recipe on ThePioneerWoman.com . I have made a few and they are really tasty. It's fruit covered with thick flan like custard, and baked. The clafoutis is made with cherries. When other fruits are used, it is a flaugnarde.......I like saying both words....my wife is tired of hearing them.
I have made apple, pear and cherry.  Pear was best so far. We will see how a blackberry one goes over on Thanksgiving at Mom's house.

Pear Flaugnarde

 Peel, core and slice two pears. Arrange in a pinwheel fashion in a buttered pie dish.

Break up 3 eggs with a fork or whip, then add 2 cups of half and half (or milk), 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour, 2 tsp vanilla extract, pinch of salt. Pour over the fruit. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes.  Done.

 Here are a couple of pics of the cherry clafoutis.

Caesar Salad

Caesar Salad

The Dressing

¾ cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, smashed

¼ cup vinegar (can use a mixture, like ½ balsamic and ½ red wine)

Juice from ½ a lemon

½ can of anchove filets (3 or 4 filets)

1 teaspoon of whole grain mustard

½ teaspoon of salt

A couple grinds of pepper

The Lettuce

2 Heads of Romaine, outer leaves discarded, inner leaves washed and chopped or torn into large pieces.

The Cheese

Reggiano Parmesano……shaved over the salad

Croutons

Your choice….best with homemade croutons made from thinly sliced bread, brushed with garlic butter and toasted in a 400 degree oven

The Salad

Microwave the garlic and the oil for one minute on high.

Put the lemon juice, vinegar, anchovies and mustard in a food processor. With the processor running, slowly pour in the oil. Add salt and pepper. If the taste is too strong for your liking, add a little water, and then more oil. Toss romaine with dressing, then add shaved parmesan and croutons……Bon appétit..

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Meatballs

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef sirloin (85/15)

1 lb ground lamb

1lb ground pork or turkey

1 ½ cups fresh bread crumbs, soaked in milk

½ cup chopped flat leaf parsley

1 cup freshly grated Romano or Reggiano Parmesan cheese

2 eggs

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Fresh ground black pepper to taste

The Meatballs

Mix the three meats together. Add the bread crumbs and mix. Add the eggs and mix. Add the parsley, cheese , salt and pepper, and mix.

Form the meatballs into 2 inch diameter balls. Saute a few at a time in a cast iron skillet with olive oil until brown on all sides. Don’t crowd the skillet. Place browned meatballs on a cookie sheet and cook in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes. This will finish cooking them all the way through. Serve with sauce of choice……Marinara or Pomodoro maybe…..

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Pork Tenderloin in a Skillet

This is my favorite way to do pork tenderloin. Its seared in a skillet, then finished in the oven. The skillet is used to make a pan sauce. My favorite sauce is made with mushrooms and cream, but the options are many.One tenderloin will make two really big servings (like for my two brothers) or three normal servings.

Trim the fascia from the tenderloin. Salt and pepper.

Heat a cast iron skillet until it smokes. Add 2 tbsp butter and 2  tbsp olive oil.

Sear the pork until it is brown.....not gray, but brown.

Remove the pork from the skillet. Place on a cookie sheet, and put that in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

When you take it out, it will look like this.

Let it rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

As for the sauce, take your pick. If you want the mushroom cream thing, when the meat comes out of the skillet, throw the sliced mushrooms in.  Add cream and stir, getting all the frond off the bottom off the pan. Cook over medium high heat, and reduce until its thick.Salt and pepper to taste. Stir in some coarse ground mustard if you want. Its good either way.

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Cream Style Corn

My family ate a lot of corn, when I was growing up. We grew it, harvested it, an ate it. My favorite was was cream style, although on the cobb was a close second. My grandmother taught my mom, and she taught me, how to cook cream style corn. As you know, the corn has a lot of sugar in it, and will stick to the skillet. Usually that's a problem. However, if you intentionally let it do that, carmelizes some of the sugars creating a unique dish, and I love it.

Frozen corn allows you to make this year round.

You can start with these while they are still frozen. They thaw fast in cast iron skillet with a little butter.

The first  goal is to boil off some of the water, so simmer over medium high heat, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. After 15 minutes, turn the heat down to medium, stop stirring and let it stick. When the "stuck" part has turned brown, turn the heat off and let the pan sit. After it cools for a few minutes, the stuck part will turn loose easily. Stir well, dislodging all the stuck stuff ( its really camelized corn).

Reheat and repeat the process one time.  Correct for salt, and your done.

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Sunday Lunch

My in laws joined us for lunch today. I felt like doing the "southern" thing. So....

Pork tenderloin with gravy

Cream style corn

Greens (swiss chard)

White beans

Home made rolls

We had a great lunch.

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Spinach Soup

You don't have to be Popeye to like this soup. Its simple, but very flavorful. It makes a great first course and pairs nicely with chardonnay.

Spinach  Soup

Saute 3 diced onions  in 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large stock pot

Add 1 lb spinach and cook for 10 minutes

Add 1 large can (49 ½ oz Swanson) chicken  broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Add 2 diced potatoes and simmer for 30 minutes

Puree in blender and add a little cream (1 cup or more)

Correct seasoning and serve warm or chilled, with a small grating of parmesan .

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Pappardelle with Ragu

Pappardelle is a very broad noodle suited for rich meaty sauces like ragu. Its fun to make, and tastes way better than any you can buy. I made these with both all purpose and whole wheat flour. It and the ragu made a great sunday night supper.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons olive oil



Stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt in a medium bowl, or on a clean board. Make a hollow in the center, and pour in the olive oil. Break eggs into it while mixing quickly with a fork until the dough is wet enough to come together. Knead on a lightly floured surface until the dough is stiff and elastic.
 

 

Cover, and let stand for 30 minutes to relax.

Roll out dough using a pasta machine to thickness of six on the machine.

 

Cut into noodles 3/4 to 1 inch in width. Allow the pasta to air dry for at least 15 minutes to avoid having it clump together.

Fresh pasta cooks VERY quickly. One minute in a large pot of salted boiling water and its done.Cook a third of the noodles at a time, dip them out and add more.

Add a little sauce to the noodles when they come out of the pot to keep them from sticking together.

Serve with ragu, fresh parmesan and a little crushed red pepper.

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Ragu

There is nothing quite like fresh pasta and a robust ragu.  Ragu is a meat sauce from  Northern Italy. Its contains tomatoes, onions, carrots, and often wild game, like rabbit.  Sorry to say, Peter Cottontail was not to be found today, so I made this one from ground beef, turkey and lamb.  The lamb is very important to this dish.....it won't be the same without it.

One large onion, diced.
2 carrots, diced
4 clove garlic, diced
1 lb 85/15 ground beef
1 lb ground turkey
1 lb ground lamb
1 tbsp salt and 1 tbsp pepper
1 1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup cream
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 lg can tomato paste

Saute onion, garlic and carrotsover high heat, in olive oil, in large enameled cast iron pot. Remove vegetables from pot. Brown the beef, then remove it too. Brown the lamb and turkey. Put all the meats and vegetables back in the pot and add salt and pepper. Add the wine. Stir frequently. Get all the frond off the bottom of the pan....you know, that stuff that sticks to the pot when you are browning stuff. When the wine has pretty much all cooked off, add the cream, and cook on high heat until it has cooked off too. Then, add the crushed tomatoes and chicken stock. When the pot starts to simmer, cover and put in 275  degree oven, and cook for 3 hours. Stir occasionally. When you are about ready to serve, remove from the oven and stir in the tomato paste. Correct seasonings (salt and pepper). Its good then, and will be better the next day, if any is left.

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Pimiento Cheese

I never ate pimiento cheese when I was growing up, although my brother Bubba did. He was also fond of canned sardines in mustard, and  vienna sausages.....I wonder if they have ever seen any of those in Vienna??? Sorry, I digress.  Anyway, when I read in Frank Stitt's cookbook, Southern Table, about Miss Verba's pimiento cheese, I had to try it.  Its a world apart from any I had tried before. It makes a great hors d'oeuvre and pairs nicely with a variety of white wines.

Miss Verba's Pimiento Cheese

1 lb sharp cheddar

1/4 lb cream cheese, softened

1 tsp freshly ground white pepper

3 large red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tsp sugar

Splash of Tabasco

1/8 tsp cayene (optional)

Grate the cheddar. Add all the other ingredients and stir together.

Refrigerate and served chilled.

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Steak au Poivre

A classic filet mignon, crusted in crushed black pepper, with cognac cream sauce. Recipe is for 4.

4 Tenderloin filets, 1 1/2 inches thick
4 Tablespoons black peppercorns
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup cognac
1 cup of heavy cream

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator for at least 30  prior to cooking. Sprinkle with salt.

Coarsely crush the peppercorns with  the bottom of a cast iron skillet. Spread the peppercorns evenly onto a plate. Press the fillets, on both sides, into the pepper until it coats the surface. Set aside.

In a cast iron  skillet over medium high heat, melt the butter and olive oil. As soon as the butter and oil begin to turn golden and smoke, gently place the steaks in the pan. Cook until brown, 4-5 minutes, then flip and cook the other side. If you want the rare, they are done. For medium, put them on a cookie sheet  in 375 degree oven for a few minutes, start checking them at 5 minutes, remove before the are medium as they will continue to cook after they come out of the oven.  Add cognac and cream to skillet, off heat, and stir. Reduce until sauce has thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve.

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Potatoes au Gratin

This recipe is a "little" decadent, with cream and cheese.....but its worth it.

4 lbs russet potatoes, pelled and sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp butter

Fresh Reggiano Parmesan and Gruyere cheeses

Microplane grater

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Slice potatoes and put in a bowl of water to prevent browning as you assemble the gratin. Rub the garlic all over bottom and sides of the gratin dish. Allow to dry for 10 minutes, then rub dish with butter. Arrange a layer of potatoes, drained and patted dry, in the bottom of the dish. Slightly overlap the potatoes, Grate a thin layer of parmesan  onto the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Another layer of potatoes, and alayer of both cheeses. One more layer of potatoes, and  a top with a grating of gruyere only. Gently pour in the cream around the edges, careful not to wash all the cheese away. Bake on top rack of a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the top is golden brown....about 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Dinner with Carmen and George

It was our pleasure to share a meal with our longtime friends Carmen and George last evening. We have a long cooking history with them, having gone to a couple of cooking "schools" with them in Italy in the 90's. They are both great cooks and great people.  Dinner last night...

Hors d'oeuvres...pimento cheese and crackers

Entree.....Steak au Poivre, au gratin potatoes, sugar snap peas

Desert....homemade rolls, fig jam, honey and butter

Simple, but very satisfying.....

Mexican Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion chopped

8 oz can tomato sauce

28 oz can whole tomatoes with juice

¾ cup distilled white vinegar

¼ cup dark brown sugar

2 tbl. Spoons molasses

1 tbl spoon sweet paprika

1 tbl spoon chili powder

2 teaspoons liquid smoke (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

¼ cup orange juice

Cook onion in hot oil until golden brown (7-10 min.). Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to the lowest setting and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, unlit thickened, 2 to 2 ½ hours.

Puree the sauce in a blender or food processor. Let cool. Use or store in fridge.

For BARBACOA…

Add 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin, 1.5 teaspoons chili powder, 6 tablespoons lime juice, 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves into the finished sauce…

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Cooking for the Girls

We invited friends over last night. For one reason or another, the guys were busy, and since I had been working on the brisket all day, we had dinner with out them. Brisket tacos, queso, pico de gallo, molcajete salsa.  As you can tell, it was not a bland evening.

Brisket Tacos

There is a taco joint just down the road from us. They serve several different tacos, all good. My favorite is called barbacoa. Now, true barbacoa is made by cooking a cow's head.  I think they are using brisket for theirs, and frankly, I like that better than a cow's head. This is a pretty close copy of what they are serving.

Trim a brisket of ALL the fat.

 Rub liberally with Worchestershire and then with Frank's Hot sauce (or Crystal). Then apply a generous coating of  Matt's Rub. Do both sides.

Cook over indirect heat ( I use Big Green Egg with an inverted platesetter ) at 180 degrees for 4 hours. Apply another coat of Worchestershire, wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and cook another 4 hours at 180 degrees.  Remove from heat and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing.  Its great brisket just like that..

For tacos, chop the meat  and mix with Mexican Barbecue Sauce.  Serve with corn tortillas, chopped onion and cilantro......

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