Pork Avagolemono

Giving the deuces to the midwest was hands down, the best thing I ever did for myself.  Education, life experiences, adventure aside, moving opened my eyes to an entire new world of culinary goodness that, had I stayed in the small town of Hutchinson, I'd probably not have experienced.

That would have been one of the biggest tragedies!

Cruising around NYC, I found myself some great friends, from all over the world.  Jamaican, Greek, Nigerian, Indian, Jewish, you name it--our group looks much like the United Nations when we get together.  It's been amazing to learn about other cultures and eat all the fun food that is unique to their homelands.  One of my favorite activities now is playing with the basics from different cultures and making them my own.

Tonight's dinner is a reflection of the Greek portion of my possee.

Avagolemono is a traditional  egg-lemon sauce that so many of my friends would make in leftover world--because it goes with ANYTHING.  You can make it for beef, chicken, pork, fish--anything really.  Aside from being light and delish, it's a great way to spice up those leftovers and make them a totally different meal.

Rather than doing a standard Avagolemono sauce, I decided to kick it up a bit since I was using it with leftover egg noodles.  The outcome was great--a certain do-again in our house.

Ingredients:
2 center cut pork chops, bone removed.
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 cups egg noodles, prepared al dente according to directions
4 tbs olive oil
4 eggs
2 lemons-juiced
1 bay leaf (fresh)
2 cups chicken broth (or beef, vegetable)
1 Parmesan reggiono cheese rind
1 tbs minced garlic
1/2 cup flour

Directions for the Avagolemono sauce:

Bring chicken broth to a boil, reduce heat and add bay leaf, cheese rind, garlic and simmer over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Remove rind and bay leaf (discard).

Separate the egg yolk and whites--reserve both in bowls.  In a medium bowl, beat the whites until foamy.  Slowly add in the egg yolks, beating in one at a time.  Add the juice of lemons.  Add in ladles full of broth, whisking continuously. A great tool to do this is an handheld immersion blender--works wonders!

Add the sauce to the egg noodles that you've prepared/drained.  Continue to warm over low heat for 5-10 minutes.

Directions for pan-fried pork chops:

In three different bowls, lay out the flour, panko bread crumbs and eggs.  Pat the pork chops dry, cover in flour, then dredge through the eggs and into the bread crumbs to coat.

In a fry pan, over medium heat, bring olive oil to heat and add chops.  Cook until gold-brown on each side until pork chops are cooked.  About 7-8 minutes per side.

Remove from pan, drain excess oil off.  Slice and serve over noodles.