Chops n Potatoes

Recipe Twofer

My regular days off are Tuesday and Wednesday and are pretty much the only days I’m motivated to cook unless there’s a good reason.  Of course in my mind, ‘good reason’ can encompass anything from ‘holiday goodies to be neighborly,’ to ‘what can I do with these leftover bits,’ to ‘found a new recipe that looks intriguing,’ to ‘I just picked up this package of something in an ethnic grocery so what now?’ This week covered regular cooking plus a smattering of holiday goodies for the office holiday party.  That one will be for Friday.  Today I’m covering the dinner I made on Wednesday; marinated porkchops with pan gravy and a hash brown casserole.  As always, pour yourself a glass of vino, pop in some tunes and follow along.

For the porkchops:

Ingredients
(Makes enough for 4 chops)

4 porkchops, 1/2-1 inch thick.*

Marinade
1 1/4 cup olive oil
5-6 Tbs Balsamic vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1-3 dashes lime or lemon juice

Gravy

2 Tbs unsalted butter
2 Tbs finely chopped onion
2 Tbs flour
1/2 cup liquid from rested chops plus chicken broth to make up the difference

Directions

Earlier in the day:  Toss the oil, vinegar, garlic, spices and juice into a bowl and whisk to combine.  Place the chops into a big freezer bag and pour the marinade in.  Squeeze out as much air as possible, seal and toss in the fridge for a minimum of 1/2 hour, though it won’t hurt anything if you did this in the morning and left them marinate all day.  About the same time you start baking the potatoes, pull the chops out of the fridge to allow them to come to room temperature (45 minutes to an hour before you want to cook them). image

Wipe as much of the marinade off the chops as you can.  Place all four in a large skillet or split them up into two smaller skillets. I use the cold skillet method.  It seems to result in incredibly moist chops without the need for brining.

Once the chops are done, Turn off the burner. Remove the chops to a warmed plate and cover loosely for about 5 minutes.  If needed, turn heat to medium and simmer away remaining liquid, being careful not to burn or scorch.  Add butter and onion and saute for two minutes or so, scraping up any browned bits. Add Flour.  Whisk together and cook for another minute or so. Add juices and chicken broth and reduce to whatever consistency you like your gravy. 

Hash Brown Casserole

Pure comfort food here.  I kind of tried to make it a bit healthier as well as give it a bit of a kick in the pants taste-wise in order to combat the richness of it all.  I thend to like things a bit on the spicy side, so

Ingredients

2 lb hash brown potatoes (frozen works just fine here)
1 can cream of chicken soup (98% fat-free if possible)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
8 oz fat-free cheddar cheese
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 tsp ground cayenne or…
several shakes hot pepper sauce (I like Marie Sharp’s if you can find it)
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Dump the hash browns in a big-ass bowl.  Big enough to mix the spuds with the other ingredients.  Think really, really big.

Throw the remaining ingredients in a smaller bowl.  Whisk and/or stir together.  Take a little taste and see if you like the way it tastes and adjust accordingly.

Combine with the hash browns and mix as well as you can. Mine was kind of a gloppy, uneven mess, but it turned out pretty damn tasty anyway, so don’t worry if it’s not perfectly mixed.  Put the whole mess into a rectangular baking dish (no greasing necessary) and bake for about an hour (an hour and a half is okay if you’re using frozen browns).

Let rest 5 or so minutes before serving.

Suggested additions/modifications:  chopped bell peppers (whatever color you have handy), diced ham, Nacho cheese sauce as a substitute for the cream of chicken soup

*Donna and I both prefer bone in meat.  It’s almost always more flavorful and juicy; but hey… when boneless pork loin is on sale for $1.08 a pound, you don’t pass that shit up.

Posted by Mike on Thursday, December 17, 2009 at 02:28 PM
Filed in: Entrees • Pork • Veggies • ◊ Permalink
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