I Finally Cooked

Completely unplanned, I was able to get two real meals out (well almost real) that I had to cook.  Let me share.

Last night I found some pork chops in my freezer (pretty thin, bone-in, loin chops) and decided it was their time to shine.  The only person I could turn to for some yummy pork chops was the Pioneer Woman (y'all, if you don't know about the Pioneer Woman then take some time to go through her blog... I started following her a couple of years ago and now she has some cookbooks, a recipe site and a show on the Food Network) so I made her Pan-Fried Pork Chops.  I know, they were fried... can anything fried be bad?  Well, the answer is yes (when something is so fried that you a- can't taste the food, and b- can't touch your fingers afterwards for fear of starting an oil slick) but not with these pork chops.

I actually found this recipe because I was trying to decide if I was going to fry the chops in vegetable or canola oil.  My gut said canola oil and so did this recipe so I used it as a guide (most other recipes called for vegetable oil but that turned my stomach... not sure why).  To add to the "down-home-ness" of fried pork chops I also made mac and cheese and frozen peas (which, if you have been watching The Chew you would know that even Mario Batali says frozen peas are good to use - he also likes frozen corn).

So, how did it go over?  Well... when Brian came home and I put his plate in front of him (very 1950s of me... then I fixed him a drink and fetched him the paper - oh wait, now I'm confusing 1950s and a dog) he said, "Now THIS is a meal."  He then sat down and ate everything on his plate, what was left in the kitchen, and what morsels Evan left on his plate.  Evan was mostly drawn to the mac and cheese (what a surprise) but he did eat the pork chops and peas as well. 

Let's review:

Recipe: Pan-Fried Pork Chops
Rating: Brian (I know... it's been a while but sometimes the simplest things are the most satisfying)
Future Recommendations: So, the recipe, as you can see if you read through it, talks about liberally salting the pork chops before you coat them.  Now, I am a firm believer in salt and use only sea salt for cooking (cause it's in the house, I would also use kosher salt if it had it) but I think I went overboard.  For me it was salted WAY too liberally.  Brian said he didn't have any problem with it but I'm sticking with my taste buds on this one and I plan on having a lighter hand next time.


Then, tonight, I cooked again (I know, shocker of all shocks).  Often on Friday nights I make soup and sandwiches (ummm... because it's easy and I'm tired).  The last few times I've done this I've made Trader Joe's Creamy Tomato soup (I can't say enough good things about this soup) and a simple grilled cheese I make on my panini maker.  Tonight I had Trader Joe's butternut squash soup in my pantry and I decided to step it up a notch with the panini because I found some chicken in my freezer and another Pioneer Woman recipe Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini.

Clearly I don't need to tell you much about the soup except that it is definitely a second to the tomato soup and that I found out, when Brian came home, that he doesn't like butternut squash soup (he then convinced me to make him some chicken noodle... then I fixed him a drink and got him the paper).  But we have to talk about the sandwich because, as usual, I changed some things.

I made the chicken as recommended in the recipe (but I have to tell you that slicing it in half was way more trouble to me than pounding it... I'm an old dog and I don't learn new tricks so well) and I made the bacon chewy, but I didn't have any ranch dressing or spicy mustard so I just slathered the bread with some sweet honey mustard.  And normally, when I make paninis, I don't put anything on the outside of the bread but since this was a treat I decided to spray it with some butter Pam.  Then they went on the panini maker* for 3 minutes. 

Brian felt the sandwich was worth the trouble.  Evan took everything out of the inside and ate it (I also gave him some extra chicken and he drank his soup out of a cup) and while I wasn't enamored (probably because I'm the one who had to go to all the trouble to make it) I do think there are some things I want to do to the sandwich that will make me want to make it again.

Recipe: Chicken Bacon Ranch Panini
Rating: Brian (I'm begrudgingly giving this a Brian... he loved it but I still haven't made up my mind)
Future Recommendations: First off, the recipe specifically calls for "chewy bacon".  Turns out I don't like chewy bacon and I find it hard to bite through.  Next time I would definitely make it crispy.  I also think that the ranch dressing is a must have.  I also want to add some red onion for a bite of flavor.  After I do all of that I'll re-rate the panini for you all.

*If you don't have a panini maker (and why don't you, I use this thing at least 2x a week and it's affordable) you can always use a grill pan and use something heavy to weigh down the sandwich like a brick or skillet (what, no grill pan either... you're killing me), or the flat side of a griddle (got mine at a restaurant supply store but you can get them anywhere) or just a skillet... I know you have a skillet.