Juicy, tender pork chops with a nice crunchy coating. 

 

Served with potatoes. Oh yummm

The supermarket had a BOGO on some thick, boneless, pork loin chops. The chops were pre-seasoned with Mr. Grill, I don't know about Mr Grill, but the buy one, get one, offer was too good to pass up. I thought if worse came to worst I could rinse the seasoning off and do something with them. 

The Mr. Grill isn't all that bad so I gave them the panko treatment, fried them, and served with some potatoes. 

 

 

I did the flour, egg, panko routine. 

Since the chops were already seasoned I didn't add any seasonings to the flour. 

 

 

The chops were pretty thick so I cut them in half and pounded them thinner under some plastic wrap. 

 

 

Chops are ready, now give a dusting of flour, 

 

 

then an egg wash. Let the excess egg drip off the chop then put right into the panko. 

 

 

Into hot oil and fry for about 3-4 min per side until cooked and golden brown. 

 I'm not real keen on frying, not necessarily for health reasons, but because I'm a scaredy cat and I have visions of the frying pan catching fire and flames shooting throughout my kitchen. 

I will however, overcome my frying phobia to have this meal again. 

Here's what I did

 

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Crunchy Panko Encrusted Pork Chops

meats

2  boneless pork loin chops 

if chops are thick, split open and; pound thin

1/3 cup all purpose unbleached flour

1 large egg; lightly beaten

3/4 cup panko, Japanese style bread crumbs 

vegetable oil for frying

In large frying pan, add oil to about 1 inch and heat to 350*F. While the oil is heating prepare the chops.

Dust each pork chop with flour, dip into beaten egg, drain off any excess egg, then into panko making sure the chop is completely coated with panko.

Add to hot oil and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes each side, depending on thickness of the chop.

Remove from oil and drain on papertowels.

Notes:  koko

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.87 **

And that's that

 

 

I'm participating in a photo exercise put out by Paint The Moon Photography.  NO, I'm not in any way affiliated with them, nor do they know I even exist. The weekly themes and rules are on their blog. 

The theme last week was to take photos using "white space" or the second alternative "everyday tools."

My kitchen counter this morning hit me as the perfect picture for everyday tools. 

This was the second sink full of dishes that got washed last night but these did not get put away. Putting my feet up and having a nice drink was more important to me at the time. :-)

 

Everyday Tools

I don't know what this weeks ideas are but I'm looking forward to the challenge. 

Also, MCP Actions has a photography exercise going also. It's called Project 12 with a monthly theme. Again, I'm in NO way associated with them, nor do they know I even exist.

For the month of January the theme is "resolution" this is pretty challenging and I'm not quite sure yet what I'll submit, but I'm confident I'll come up with something. 

I will be adding links to both of these web sites on my blog. They both have been very generous with their free photoshop actions and photography tips and tricks, I think it would be a nice thing to do to show appreciation. 

And tha'ts that

 

Mexican chocolate, warming spices, and masa harina make for a perfect drink on a cold rainy day. 

I've been wanting to make this for the longest time. Today provided the perfect cold rainy day in which to make it. 

 

C'mon, lets wrap our cold hands around a warming mug of Champurrado. 

 

 

You'll need some Mexican chocolate, Abuelita (little grandmother, is the preferred brand;) water, milk, brown sugar or piloncillo, masa harina, cinnamon and star anise. 

 

 

In a large saucepan add the water, cinnamon and star anise. 

 

Bring to a boil; turn off the heat, cover, and let the spices steep. 

 

 

After about 20 minutes remove the spices and whisk in the masa harina. 

 

 

Whisk, whisk, whisk, then add the milk, 

 

 

and the chocolate that flew off the cutting board and the brown sugar. 

Simmer uncovered until the chocolate is melted. 

 

Put on your jammies, you know, the ones with the feet and cuddle in with the best cup of hot chocolate.

 

Here's my recipe. 

 

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Champurrado

beverages

3 cups of water

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 anise star

1/4 cup masa harina

2 cups milk

1 disk Mexican chocolate, chopped; Abuleta brand preferred

3 ounces piloncillo, chopped or 1/2 cup; packed brown sugar

In a large saucepan add the water, cinnamon and star anise. Bring to a boil; turn off the heat, cover, and let the spices steep for 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and star anise, strain if necessary and return the spiced water to the pot.

Over low heat slowly whisk the masa harina into the warm water until well combined. Add the milk, chopped chocolate, and piloncillo/brown sugar
Over medium heat bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Simmer uncovered until chocolate is completely melted and sugar is dissolved, Serve immediately.

Notes:  kokoscornerblog.com

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.87 **

And that's that 

 

Meat filled ravioli finished off in a spicy sage butter sauce. 

 

This is a big hit using mostly leftovers. 

 

The ravioli ingredients are leftover cooked lean ground beef, leftover three pepper sauté , about a cup and a half of each, and spring onions. I was going to use some sage in the filling but changed my mind. 

I don't have a pasta rolling machine and I just can't seem to get my pasta thin enough so I used won ton wrappers instead. 

 

 

Finely dice the green onions

 

 

add to some olive oil in a medium skillet. 

 

 

Crumble in the cooked ground beef. I didn't want any big chunks of meat so I broke up some of the bigger chunks as I added the meat. 

 

 

Roughly chop the peppers and add to the ground beef. 

 

 

I decided to add some dried oregano, about a heaping teaspoon, 

 

 

and a tablespoon of tomato paste. It looks funky because I keep the leftover tomato paste in the freezer. 

 

 

Add about 1/2 cup of water to the meat mixture.

Thats' oregano residue in the bowl, waste not want not so they say.  

 

 

In a won ton wrapper put a heaping half tablespoon of the meat mixture. 

I brushed the edges with a well beaten egg. I was going to brush the edges with water, but since I was going to boil them I wanted a little more "sticking power."

 

 

Fold in half going point, to point in any direction you want.

Or, top with another won ton wrapper. 

 

 

Make sure the edges are well sealed. 

 

 

Before I proceeded with the rest of the ravioli I did a little test run to see how the won ton wrappers would hold up in boiling water. 

Beautiful. 

A few minutes is all that's needed, otherwise they tear easily. 

 

 

It didn't take long for me to discover that making the ravioli was easier done "in hand" rather than on the board. 

Give the wrapper a quick brushing with the egg wash.  

 

Place the filling in the middle of the wrapper. 

 

 

Bring two points together. I joined the bottom point to the top point. The filling naturally fell into place and I only had to pinch the edges to seal.

Easy, peasy and it went very fast. 

 

 

Two dozen later. 

As you are making the ravioli keep them under a tea towel to prevent them from drying out. 

 

 

Ingredients for the sage butter sauce are butter, sage, paprika, crushed red chili flakes and salt. 

Give the sage a rough chop. 

 

 

Melt the butter in a large skillet, 

 

 

add the chopped sage, 

 

 

paprika and the red chili flakes. 

Cook until the butter begins to brown. 

 

 

Remove from the heat and add the salt. 

 

 

Cook the ravioli to boiling water for just a few minutes. 

 

 

Give them a quick drain and add right into the butter sauce. 

 

 

I used Giada De Laurentiis's sage butter recipe but the ravioli are mine, and I topped mine with Asiago cheese. 

 

Here is her Ravioli With Spicy Sage Butter recipe. 

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Ravioli With Spicy Sage Butter

sauces/dips

1 pound ricotta and spinach ravioli

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter; room temperature

16 fresh sage leaves, chopped

1/2 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 cup grated pecorino romano

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ravioli and boil gently, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Drain and place in a serving bowl.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sage,paprika, and pepper flakes. Cook until the butter sizzles and begins tobrown, about 2 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the salt.

Pour the butter sauce over the pasta and gently toss until coated.

Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Prep Time:6 min 

Inactive Prep Time: -- Cook Time:5 min

Level:Easy
Notes:  Giada De Laurentiis
Yield: 4 servings

** Exported from Now You're Cooking! v5.87 **

And that's that