Crispy Pork Chops

If you haven't noticed from my posts, we mostly eat chicken. Matt can't really eat steak because of his braces - poor guy, only 6 more months to go! So tonight I decided to change it up with some pork chops. I shallow fried them with crunchy panko bread crumbs. Something to note about shallow frying, you really shouldn't ever use a non-stick pan for deep frying or shallow frying. Non-stick pans are made for cooking in medium to low heat. The extremely high temperatures achieved by frying with hot oil can cause the non-stick coating to warp and flake off. So make sure you're using stainless steel for this recipe.

Crispy Pork Chops

Makes: 4 pork chops

4 thin boneless center cut pork chops

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 seasoned salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1 tbsp milk

canola or vegetable oil for frying

• Combine the panko, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.
• Whip together the egg and milk, set aside.
• With a meat tenderizer, pound the pork chops flat. This will help them cook more evenly and quickly.
• Dredge the pork chops in the flour, then the egg wash, then the panko mixture. Set aside while the oil is heating up.
• Fill a heavy bottomed stainless steel frying pan, heat about 1/2" of oil over medium heat.
• Once the oil is very hot, place the pork chops in the pan. If you're using a medium pan, you may need to do this in batches of two at a time. You don't want to overcrowd the pan.
• Cook the pork chops for about 3 - 4 minutes per side until they are brown and crispy and fully cooked on the inside. Allow to rest for two minutes before serving.
• I served mine on a bed of collard greens. Yum!

Broccoli Casserole

I'm guessing this is a southern thing because I had never heard of it before I moved to Charlotte. The first time I ever had broccoli casserole, it was at an office potluck. I honestly wasn't too impressed. It was too salty and it seemed more like the rice was the star of the show, not the broccoli. So here's my version; I hope you like it.

Broccoli Casserole
Makes: 8 servings

1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter (or butter substitute)
1 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1/4 cup for topping
4 scallions, chopped
3 large heads of broccoli
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 tbsp panko bread crumbs

• Rinse the broccoli then cut it into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
• Rinse the dry quinoa in a fine mesh strainer in some cold water. Transfer the quinoa to a small sauce pan, add the chicken broth, then cover and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Bring the heat down to low and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until all of the water is absorbed.
• While the quinoa is cooking, make the cheese sauce. Add the garlic, olive oil, and butter to a saute pan. Cook over medium heat until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add the flour to the sauteed garlic and continue to cook another 2 minutes over medium heat until the flour turns a pale golden brown.
• Whisk together the milk and egg.
• Now, add the milk mixture to the pan and continue stirring constantly until the milk starts to bubble and thicken, about 5 - 7 minutes.
• Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the 1 cup of cheddar cheese until the cheese is melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the quinoa, broccoli, scallions, and cheese sauce.
• Transfer the mixture to a lightly greased baking dish such as a brownie pan.
• Top with 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese, then the Parmesan cheese, then the panko. Spray the top with a little bit of spray oil. This will help the casserole to brown.
• Bake at 400° F for 20 minutes.

This pairs really well with chicken, fish, pork chops, or steak. It's even great by itself for lunch!

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Matt isn't terribly fond of vegetables. But tomatoes are one thing he will eat. And he loves baked stuffed tomatoes. So, I would say this recipe is kid tested and kid approved. But it's actually husband tested and husband approved which is a more rigorous standard of testing ;-)

When I was trying to decide between getting Boursin or Alouette cheese, I was looking at the labels. Alouette said "all natural!" So I thought I would get that one. But when I looked at the ingredients, it had a bunch of weird stuff like xanthan gum and guar gum. The Boursin didn't have any of that. It was all real ingredients; despite the fact that it didn't do any advertising about how natural it was. Go figure! Anyways, that's just my two cents...

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Makes: 3 tomatoes

3 medium tomatoes
pinch of sea salt
1 package Boursin or Alouette herb and garlic cheese
3 tbsp panko bread crumbs

• Wash the tomatoes. Cut a very small slice off the bottoms (this will help them to stand up straight). Cut off the tops.
• With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and fleshy membranes so that you have three hollow tomatoes.
• You don't have to throw away the part that you scoop out. You could cook it down and make it into sauce or dice it up and put it in a salad or an omelette.

• Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt inside each tomato. Then place the tomatoes in a glass baking dish.
• Stuff as much cheese as you can get into each tomato. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may end up using the whole package of cheese or you may have some left overs. I used up about 2/3 of the package.
• Very carefully sprinkle one tablespoon of panko on top of each tomato.
• Bake at 350° F for 20 - 25 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the bread crumbs are lightly golden brown.

Tip: Store your tomatoes on the counter top instead of the refrigerator to prevent them from developing a bitter flavor.

Zucchini Fries

I absolutely love zucchini. I'll eat it any way you could possibly make it. The same goes for Lola. One of my favorite ways to eat zucchini is zucchini fries. This is actually something that my mom made when I was growing up. Of course, back then we had never heard of panko; I'm not sure if it was even available here in the states. So she just made them with regular bread crumbs. I really like the panko though, it makes them super crunchy.

Zucchini Fries
Makes: 4 servings

2 large zucchinis
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, finely minced
pinch salt
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp milk

• Combine the panko, Italian seasoning, garlic, and salt. Set aside.
• Whip together the eggs and milk. Set aside.
• Wash the zucchini well. Cut off the ends, then cut the zucchini in half.

• Then cut each section into four slices.

• Then cut each slice into four sticks.

• Grab 8 - 10 sticks at a time. Dip them in the flour, then the eggs, then the panko.
• Place the zucchini fries on a lightly greased baking sheet in a single layer, leaving some room between each fry.
• Once all of the fries have been placed on the baking sheet, lightly spray them with some cooking spray. This will help ensure that they brown well.
• Bake at 425° F for 15 minutes.
• Serve with dipping sauce such as ranch, sweet chili, or even marinara.

Lola approves!

Chicken Dippers

I'm pretty sure that Matt and Lola are getting annoyed with my blogging. They don't like having to wait for me to take pictures before they can eat haha! Tonight was especially difficult to wait - who doesn't love chicken nuggets?! Lola scanarfed these down (yep, scanarfed). 

The panko bread crumbs make these super crunchy and yummy. If you haven't used panko bread crumbs before, now is the time to start. You'll find them right next to regular bread crumbs at the grocery store. Panko is made from just the fluffy middle part of the bread; no crusts. It's very crunchy which is great when you're trying to bake instead of fry. I use them for just about everything.

Chicken Dippers
2 Chicken breasts
1/2 Cup cornstarch
1 1/2 Cups panko bread crumbs
2 Eggs
1 Tbsp milk

• Trim the chicken breasts. Then cut them into long strips, cutting across the grain.
• Whip the 2 eggs and milk together.
• Dip the chicken strips into the cornstarch, then the egg wash, then the bread crumbs.
• Place the chicken strips in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 400° F for 2o minutes.
• Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

I like to eat these with honey teriyaki or sweet chili sauce; Matt likes to dip them in buffalo sauce - which is not surprising for anyone who knows Matt. My sister once apologized (very tongue in cheek) at Thanksgiving for not making buffalo flavored turkey.