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Smothered Pork Chops

Smothered Pork Chops

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Yield: 2-3 Servings
Scott Nowell

Dec. 2017 Hmm pork chops. Lots of choices for the seasoning here. The recipe I adapted this from used Poultry Seasoning, but I like herbs de Provence better. You can use about anything that suits you. The number of servings depends on the quantity and thickness of the pork you use. The original called for inch thick chops. I used ½ inch thick cutlets. Adjust the cooking times to suit your pork. I think the thicker cutlets are the right choice.

  • 4pork chops or cutlets
  • 2tsp herbs de Provence, Poultry Seasoning, Italian Seasoning, etc.
  • salt and pepper
  • 1onion, sliced
  • 4cloves garlic, minced
  • 1½TBS all-purpose flour
  • 1½cups chicken broth
  • ¼cup buttermilk or 1 TBS Saco buttermilk powder and ¼ cup water
  • ¼cup water

Pat the pork dry and season on both sides with salt, pepper and your chosen seasoning.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add pork and brown well on both sides. Remove to plate, reserve.

Dump oil from pan and add 2 tablespoons of butter to pan over medium heat. Add the onions and a big pinch of salt. Brown for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, cook 1 minute. Add flour and cook 2 minutes.

Add chicken broth, plate juices, ¼ cup buttermilk and ¼ cup water. Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Adjust heat to low and add pork to pan with sauce. Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your meat. Baste the meat with the sauce occasionally.

Serve with:

Vegetable Starch
Green Beans Noodles
Broccoli German Potato Salad
Asparagus Spaetzle
Green Salad French Fried Potatoes
Pasta with Ground Beef

Pasta with Ground Beef

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Yield: 4 Servings
Scott Nowell

Circa 1994: Another simple, tasty quick pasta casserole. Really an upgraded  substitute for Hamburger Helper. This could easily take the addition of other vegetables such as broccoli or asparagus.

  • 8oz pasta, rotini, penne, etc.
  • 2medium onions, halved and sliced
  • 4scallions, sliced
  • 1-2tsp minced garlic
  • 1TBS oil
  • 4oz mushrooms, sliced
  • 1lb ground beef
  • 2TBS red wine
  • 1cup beef stock
  • 1-2tsp corn starch
  • salt and pepper to taste

Bring water for pasta to a boil and cook pasta al dente.

While heating water, heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add a TBS of oil and sauté the onions with a pinch of salt for 4-5 minutes until softened. Half way through sautéing the onion, add the scallions and garlic. When onions are done, remove to bowl and set aside.

If adding the optional mushrooms, in the same pan used for the onions, sauté the mushrooms until nicely browned and add to the bowl with the onions.

In same pan used for onion, brown the ground beef, cooking until done. Drain the beef and set aside with onions.

Add red wine to beef pan and de-glaze over high heat for 1 minute or until reduced by a third. Add beef stock to pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Mix a TBS of corn starch with a little water and blend to form a slurry. Add to pan a bit at a time, whisking stock often as it comes to a boil and thickens. Salt and pepper to taste.

Return beef and onions to pan and stir to mix. Add cooked pasta and stir to coat. Check and adjust seasonings. Serve with a vegetable of choice.

Chow Mein

Chow Mein

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New England Style

Yield: 4 servings
Adapted from Tom Lin and David Rosengarten

13-Jun-15: It took quite a search to come up with this recipe. This is chow mein the way I remember it from New England. Colorado and Southern California don’t often offer it this way. Here it almost always has soft noodles cooked into it.  Mein, meaning noodle, is probably a good indication of this being more traditional.  My better version uses hard noodles, a cracker like, stick chow mein noodle from the supermarket.  I think these are the same noodle, but deep fried.  You’re more likely to get strips of fried wonton skins if you order Chow Mein in SoCal restaurants.  Soy sauce is also not included, which makes this a white sauce.

Mise, Mise, Mise, get your mise together! This means me! This happens so fast, that you must get everything prepped and measured before cooking starts.

Chicken & Marinade

  • ½lb boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into pieces about ½″ wide
  • 1pinch salt
  • 2pinches white pepper
  • 2tsp sesame seed oil
  • 1egg white
  • 2TBS corn starch
  • 1TBS cooking oil

Vegetables

  • 1-2TBS cooking oil
  • 1tsp minced garlic
  • 1tsp minced shallot
  • 1tsp Shaoxing cooking wine
  • 2cups celery thinly sliced on the diagonal (about ⅛″ thick)
  • 2cups thinly sliced onions (about ⅛″ thick)
  • 1tsp sugar
  • 2firmly packed cups shredded Napa cabbage (about ½ of cabbage) (pieces about ½″ wide)
  • 1½cups fresh mung bean sprouts

Sauce

  • ¾tsp salt
  • black pepper
  • 1tsp sesame oil
  • 1cup chicken stock

Slurry

  • 1TBS (approximate) cornstarch
  • 2TBS water

Serve

  • 1cup chow mein noodles (crispy room-temperature ones) or fried wonton skin strips


Marinate chicken:
In a bowl, add the chicken, a pinch of salt, a pinch of white pepper, 1 tsp sesame oil, egg white and mix to coat. Add cornstarch and mix. Add 1 TBS of cooking oil and mix.

Slurry:
Mix 1 TBS corn starch with 2 TBS water and set aside.

Stir Fry:
Place a very large wok over high heat, and let it sit for a minute. Add 1 to 2 TBS cooking oil, spilling it around the sides of the wok. Heat until it’s smoking,

Add, garlic and shallot, stir fry 30 seconds.

Toss in the celery and the onions. Sprinkle ½ tsp of the sugar and Shaoxing cooking wine over them and stir well. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then push the celery-onion mixture to the side of the wok, leaving the center empty.

If the wok is dry, add a little more cooking oil. Add the chicken to the center of the wok and stir-fry until the chicken browns slightly and loses its pink color (about 2-3 minutes). Toss with celery and onions, bringing the mass into the center of the wok.

Add the Napa cabbage and bean sprouts to the wok, tossing with the other ingredients already in the wok. Add the remaining ½ tsp of sugar and toss again. Turn heat down to medium-high, and let mixture cook for 5 minutes; the vegetables should start losing their distinctness and merge together.

Add the stock and sesame oil and toss. When the stock is boiling, add most of the slurry to the wok, stirring immediately. If you’d like the chow mein to be a little thicker, add more slurry. Remove chow mein from heat. Serve

Filo Tomato Tart

Filo Tomato Tart

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Yield: 20 3-inch squares
Sunset July 2007

Fantastic summer appetizer that is worth the effort.

  • 7sheets filo dough, thawed
  • 5TBS unsalted butter, melted
  • 7TBS grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1cup very thinly sliced onion
  • 1cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 8roma tomatoes, sliced 1/8 inch
  • 1TBS fresh thyme leaves
  • salt and freshly ground pepper


Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray paper with cooking-oil spray (or brush lightly with vegetable oil).

Lay 1 sheet filo on paper and brush lightly with a little melted butter. Sprinkle allover with 1 TBS Parmesan. Repeat layering 5 more times (with filo, butter, and Parmesan, pressing each sheet firmly so it sticks to the sheet below. Lay the last filo sheet on top, brush with remaining melted butter, and sprinkle on remaining 1 TBS Parmesan.

Scatter onion across filo, top with mozzarella, and arrange tomato slices in a single layer, overlapping slightly Sprinkle with thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Bake until filo is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes, then serve.