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.

Easy, Breezy, Lazy Thursday

As the week winds down, I find it harder to really get pumped about cooking.  I love doing it...but after almost a week of work, commuting and general life, it gets kind of difficult to put a TON of effort into a meal that's both interesting and yummy.

Welcome to broiler Thursday.

I believe this is one of the best-kept-kitchen-secrets.  Soooo many of my friends don't even know what the broiler does, let alone, have ever used it.  It really is my kitchen cheat.  With my bad-ass broiler, a little preparation goes a long way and in under 30 minutes I had a fun meal that was pretty, interesting and super-duper low calorie.  

I wondered what to put in the broiler for awhile--I typically do steaks and chicken, but those are on slate later this week.  Then I ran across a pork roast at the market this weekend--and save bacon, I have NEVER cooked pork.  Interesting, huh?  So that's where I started this week.  Pork.  With no real plan for the pork, I figured I'd plot a marinade later and as I was meandering by the check-out line I saw a beautiful ray of sunshine: fresh pineapples!

My husband is whole-heartedly obsessed with pineapple.  He savors it like a little kid does candy.  Fresh pineapple makes him get this giddy look on his face while eating and there are some days I'm sure he'd gladly trade me for some fresh fruit.

Pineapples it was.  I knew whatever I paired with it, he'd dig.

So that's where tonight's recipe came from.  My lack of pork cooking and an odd obsession with pineapple.  Surprisingly, they go quite nice together.

(Disclaimer: This recipe feeds 2 people with average appetites, with no leftovers.)

Pineapple Glazed Pork

Ingredients for the Pork Roast:

1 Pork Roast (1 lb)
4 Slices of Pineapple, cored and cut in 1/2 inch slices.
2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
1 Tbs. Worchesteshire Sauce
1 Tsp. Dijon Mustard
2 Tbs. Pineapple juice (fresh or canned)
1 Tbs. Minced Garlic

Directions:

Turn the broiler on.  On a baking sheet lined with foil, place the pineapple slices.  Set the pork roast on a broil pan with a rack in it.  In a small bowl, mix the Soy Sauce, Worchesteshire Sauce, Mustard, Pineapple juice and garlic.  Brush over the pork.    Place the pork roast on the first rack under the broiler and the pineapple on the second rack.  Broil until a thermometer reads 155 degrees. (about 20 minutes).  Remove roast from oven and let sit.  (Pork will rise in temperature to around 160)  Move the pineapple to the top rack and broil until brown spots appear.  (approx 7-10 more minutes)  Remove pineapple and serve with pork, spicy pineapple sauce!

Spicy Pineapple Sauce Ingredients:

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce
1 Tbs. Worchesteshire
1 1/2 Tsp. Dijon mustard
1 Tsp minced garlic
2 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:  Whisk all ingredients together, set aside to serve.