The Other (Delicious) White Meat

Whenever I get my Rachael Ray magazine I do the initial, first flip-through. Where I mostly look at titles and photos and read a few of the non-food related articles. Then comes the second scan. This is when I check out ingredients and how long meals take and actually read the recipes I'm interested in. I found one in the Weekly Menu Planning section of April's issue: Herb-Crusted Pork Chops with Broccoli & Onions.

I made a few amendments to the recipe, making the pork chops pretty amazing. I used the idea of toasted bread crumbs and baking in the oven, but took it a little further...

What You'll Need:

• Fat free half & half
• 1 egg
• Brown mustard
• Honey
• Pork chops
• Panko bread crumbs
• Parsley, garlic powder, thyme
• Cheese powder from a macaroni & cheese box (my secret ingredient!)

Put it All Together:

• Whisk together the half & half and egg first. Then squirt in the mustard and honey and whisk together as best you can. The honey might be a little tricky because it's going into cold liquid, but you should be able to get it to spread out enough.
• Put your pork chops in a shallow dish, give them a few stabs with a fork and S&P them. Pour honey mustard mixture over them, making sure they're mostly covered. Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge.
• Now, I did this about 3 hours before dinner. You could definitely do it the night before and it would be even better!
• When you're ready, preheat the oven to 425 and heat up a little olive oil in a skillet and add panko bread crumbs. Stir them around a lot while they're in the pan so they all get a chance to get toasty brown. 
• Move the bread crumbs to a shallow dish to cool. Then add about 2/3 of a cheese packet from a mac & cheese box, a few good shakes of garlic powder, just a little parsley and thyme and pepper.
• Get your pork chops out, smoosh them and slide them around a little in their egg mixture before coating them in the bread crumbs. (Sprinkle some extra on top.)
• Place coated chops on a greased rack (I just used the rack from the toaster oven) on top of a cookie sheet lined with foil -- just to make your clean-up easier. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

They will be tender and moist from soaking in the egg and half & half and they'll be crunchy and tasty from the bread crumb mixture! I served them with broccoli and red onion, like the Rachael Ray recipe called for -- with the addition of sliced tomatoes on top -- and quinoa (prepared with chicken broth and a small splash of olive oil).


Broccoli & Red Onion: Heat up some olive oil, soften sliced onion a little. Add broccoli with S&P and toss as much as you can. Add a little water on the bottom for broccoli to steam, cover & cook until tender (but still a little crunch).

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Chinese Food Re-Invented

So, you know how when you get Chinese take-out and you end up with lots of leftover sauces? And they just sit and keep accumulating in your fridge... Because the next time you get Chinese you end up with more sauces and they just keep piling up.

Weeellll... Tonight I finally put them to good use. Last time I ordered out I went the "healthy" route: I had steamed veggies and chicken, but it came with an amazing spicy, garlicky sauce on the side. A lot of it. So I used the leftover sauce and invented my own Chinese dish!

Marinade for pork chops. You're probably thinking, "Wow! Why didn't I think of that??" (Or maybe, "Yeah. No duh. I always do that... Where have you been?" If so, then sshhh.) I poured the sauce over a package of thinly sliced pork chops and added a few soy sauce and duck sauce packets (as well as one hot sauce) and let it sit for a few hours in the fridge this afternoon. And I just cooked them up on the stove for dinner, making sure I poured all that saucy deliciousness over the top as I went. I served them with brown rice (cooked in chicken broth for a little extra flavor) and some stir-fried veggies:

In the same pan used to cook the pork, pour a little bit of vegetable oil and some sesame oil and add a sliced onion and a few sliced carrots and cook about halfway to desired softness. Crush a few cloves of garlic in and soy sauce; cook a bit longer. When the veggies are just about to your liking (I like them in between soft and crunchy) add some frozen peas and sliced purple cabbage. The cabbage gets soft very quickly so it really doesn't need to cook long.

And there you have it.  A delicious, and pretty healthy, re-invention of Chinese food -- with all the flavor.

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