Mom's Chops

I put down Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone in favor of some pork chops.

Nothing too new about a breaded pork chop but everyone seems to love them when they show up on their dinner plate. In our house, anything coated with crumbs or flour and fried, a la McNugget-style, is called "chicken", like chicken fish or chicken pork chops. I know this isn't our invention. Chicken fried steak has been around a long time. But my boys thought of it on their own.

My mom always made pork chops for us this way. Breaded and fried and then stuck in the oven with some green peppers. I always find they're plenty done after the frying so mine don't find their way into the oven. And I skip the peppers part - kids, you know. But they still taste like a dinner from my childhood. Sort of Shake and Bake, but Mom never bought that stuff. She was anti-processed before it was in vogue. I pound the boneless pork loin chops thin, but not so thin that they're scallopini (But you could, that would be good too, especially with chicken) Then these guys are dredged in flour, dipped in egg and tossed in fresh seasoned crumbs before they're pan-fried in minimal oil. Dear husband likes these as much as the kids.

With my love for buttermilk biscuits, fried pork chops, and pecan pie, I swear sometimes I am a reincarnated southern woman.

And yes y'all, that is corn bread on the side

El Cubano

The Cuban Pork Sandwich is held in highest regard in this household. It is one of those foods that becomes more than the sum of its parts. Pork loin (sliced from a roast,) ham, swiss cheese, pickles, and garlicky spread or mojo sauce are all smashed between a crusty loaf and toasted until crispy outside and melty inside. It makes for some fine eating. Especially with a beer, dear husband wants to add. Our favorite recipe comes from Bruce Aidells Complete Meat Cookbook. But Fine Cooking has a version in their current issue so naturally we had to give it a go. It proved to be good, but not as good as Aidells'. The Aidells recipe includes thinly sliced tomatoes and onions and I think that is why I enjoy it more. I like his mojo sauce more too.

Speaking of Cuban Pork Sandwiches, check out Hungry Magazine's review of El Cubanito, located in Logan Square (2555 N. Pulaski,) and their Cubano.

Pork Chops with Ginger-Cherry Sauce

If we were playing the word association game and you said "pork," I would say "fruit." Because for me, fruit is just the best possible accompaniment to somewhat bland pork. I really have a hard time getting excited about pork chops for dinner unless there is fruit involved (with the exception of squash and pork - that's good too for the same sweet reasons) Apples, of course, are a natural pairing, along with its buddies applesauce or apple cider. Pineapple or peach salsa can top off of pork taco pretty well too, especially when there's some red chile sauce involved as a contrast to the sweet.

So when I stopped by to visit a favorite blog, Pork Cracklins, and I saw a Cooking Light recipe for Pork Chops with Ginger-Cherry sauce, I knew I would have give it a try because the thought of it just made my mouth water. This is a really delicious simple recipe and I made only a few changes. I used fresh ginger instead of jarred(?) And I added some real tart red cherries from my frozen stash to the sauce, in addition to the preserves. These red cherries looked like jewels on the plate and really made the dish special.


We tried to convince the kids that this sauce was sweet and made the pork taste better, but alas, they had theirs sans sauce. With the red sauce and the green veg, wouldn't this make a festive dish for a holiday dinner party? Our green veg of the night was green beans sauteed with garlic and shitake mushrooms. I'm puttting shitake in everything lately, I'm just hooked on them.

Grilled Spice-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin Steaks with Honey-Chipotle Barbeque Sauce

This recipe is from Fine Cooking #78. You essentially make pork filet mignon steaks by slicing pork tenderloin into two-inch thick slices. You then pound the slices flat to 1/2 thick and grill them. They're seasoned with a rub before cooking and brushed with a sweet barbeque sauce at the end. These "steaks" turned out a very tender, spicy pork chop, we loved them. I had never made pork tenderloin this way, but I will again. I served them with a sweet potato puree and a napa cabbage slaw dressed with lime cilantro vinaigrette.

I couldn't find this recipe anywhere on the web, so I will have to type it in one of these days.

Beautiful raw asparagus

These were really nice. We grilled them along with the first pork chops of the season. I used a chile honey glaze, which was only so-so. Dear husband did a great job grilling the chops.

The Taco: the world's most perfect food.

I first heard of Molly Steven's "All About Braising." from the people over at CooksTalk. This cookbook is based on, you guessed it, braising or slow cooking with low heat and moisture. Molly Stevens is a highly regarded chef who has written numerous books. In this book, her recipes are unique versions of basic braises. She likes to pair meats with interesting things, for example Whole Chicken braised with Pears and Rosemary or Zinfandel Pot Roast with Glazed Carrots & Fresh Sage. I find her reicpes very enticing and I've always enjoyed her articles for Fine Cooking magazine, so I decided to get the book. I found it for a great price at Half.com. The first recipe that I tried was Braised Pork Country Ribs with Chipotle , Roasted Tomatoes & Red Peppers. It turned out good, but not so deliciously wonderful that I need to make it again soon. As per her suggestion, for leftovers, I shredded the cooked meat from the ribs and added it back to the flavorful sauce to make pork tacos. These tacos were more yummy than the original dish. But really that shouldn't surprise me, doesn't everything taste better on a tortilla?

Some Really Good Chops

Boneless pork chops are boring. They have little flavor and lack the juiciness of a pork chop on the bone. However, I find that I buy them often because they're packaged perfectly for a small family and the boys like them (the boys are partial to flavorless meats.) When preparing them, I usually cook them in a pan and then make a pan sauce to add juiciness and flavor. But just the other day, I came across a recipe from Cook's Illustrated magazine that promised to save the dull boneless pork chop by modifying cooking technique and adding a flavorful glaze. The technique suggested browning well on one side only and then flipping the chop and letting the other side only brown for a minute. A sauce that you've prepared is then added to the pan and the chops are simmered until they reach 140. It is very important not to boil the chops in the sauce and to not overcook. When the chops are done, they are removed from the pan and the sauce is reduced to a glaze. The chops go back in the pan for a turn in the glaze before serving. This glaze was wonderful, but I think I could have taken it a little farther to make it a bit more thick. It is made from apple juice, cider vinegar, soy sauce and mustard. This all cooks down to a nice sweet/sour concoction which makes the chops quite savory:

Here I served the chops with broccolini. This vegetable deserves a post of its own. The Cook's Illustrated article also offers a variation of the chops with asian flavors. I'll be trying this soon, so stay tuned.

Spinach Salad with Stir-Fried Pork & Warm Ginger Vinaigrette

This recipe comes from Fine Cooking issue 74. - the article: Warm Salads for Dinner.




The photo in the magazine looked great and I like all the components of the dish. But when we tasted this one, we really didn't like it because it was too oily. Oil to cook the pork, to stir-fry the veggies, the aromatics and finally to make the vinaigrette. The end result tasted like greasy chinese food tossed with spinach. Not good. I won't be making this one again.

I've made one other warm salad (scroll down) from this same article and it was great.

Spare Ribs aren't my favorite

A large rack of pork spare ribs sat in the freezer. I saw them frequently as I rummaged around in there and they had become somewhat of a mental burden, knowing that they needed to be cooked soon. I'm not crazy about spare ribs. I'd much rather have back ribs if I'm going to eat pork ribs at all.

But finally this week, I made them in the oven on a rainy day. They were rubbed with spices and cooked low and slow for more than two hours until they were tender. They were sauced with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and served with Alton Brown's sweet corn pudding and green beans sauteed with carmelized shallots. Spare ribs aren't my favorite but they can be pretty good. And paired with corn pudding, they are better. Really, I only made the ribs because I thought they would accompany the pudding nicely and I needed an excuse to make the puddin'.

Pork Char Sui

This pork tenderloin was marinated overnight in a great tasting mix of soy sauce, honey, dry sherry and Chinese5-spice powder. We grilled the pork over indirect heat and then sliced it thin and served over stir-fried baby bok choy. The marinade flavor really does come through (as I find is not the case with some marinades.) The meat is a little salty, but has a sweet component because of the equal amounts of soy and honey.
I will make this one again. It is from Fine Cooking issue 74.

Korean-style pork tenderloin salad

This recipe got great reviews on the Fine Cooking web site forum. It is from issue #78. The pork tenderloin is sliced on the bias and marinated in a soy sauce, garlic and ginger mix. It is then quick sauteed and served on top of a napa cabbage slaw that has been dressed with a spicy asian vinaigrette. We really liked this dish and think it would make a great summer dinner as it is light, spicy, cool and crunchy. The dressing on the slaw is delicious.

Memphis Style Spare Ribs

March 12

I've never been to Memphis so I didn't know what to expect when making these ribs. The rub was straightforward with all the expected ingredients. The ribs are cooked at 300 degrees for 2+ hours. This slow way of cooking renders much of the fat and produces a tender rib. The BBQ sauce, served on the side, looked OK. Memphis style BBQ sauce is apparently tangy and tomatoey, like a hopped-up ketchup. We didn't like it much, but perhaps that is our regional preference. We like a sauce dark with molasses, and less tomato. With BBQ flavors, I think it is all about what you are used to.

The Cuban Sandwich

It seems like you should have something really tasty on Fat Tuesday. Something a little over the top. This sandwich fits the bill. A Cubano is a classic, pressed Cuban sandwich filled with sliced pork, ham, swiss cheese, onions, pickles and tomatoes. A garlic mayonnaise serves as the spread. The recipe comes from a favorite cookbook, Bruce Aidells' Complete Meat, as a suggestion for using roast pork leftovers. The roll gets crunchy when it is pressed and toasted and everything melts together inside. This is not a mile-high sandwich. There is a thin layer of each ingredient, so that it can be flattened. But these thin layers will come together make your tastebuds very, very happy. It is a great sandwich.

Chinese Marinated Spareribs

I tried these ribs from The Complete Meat Book by Bruce Aidells. This is a great book with some awesome recipes. The sparerib recipe is new to me. Basically, you marinate the slab of ribs in a tasty sauce, then you slow cook the ribs until tender 2-2 1/2 hours, or longer. These were pretty good. I intended to make them with stir-fried spinach and jasmine rice. But we decided to just eat a pile of the ribs because we were lazy and felt like watching TV :). By the way, these were even better reheated the next day. They are great party fare.