Breaded Pork Chops - a Comfort Food Classic

As promised, the B.A. Gourmet's break from chicken dishes continues in today's installment. The transition from chicken to pork is fairly simple for beginning chefs. It is, after all 'the other white meat.'

Ingredients:

4-6 Boneless Pork Chops

3 Eggs

Seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs

Steps/Analysis:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and crack your eggs into a wide, shallow bowl. Beat the eggs. In a similar bowl, pour in your bread crumbs. Remember that you can always add more crumbs, but once the raw pork touches them they can never be put back.

Next, turn your attention to the chops. They should be about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. If yours are thicker than that, you can either pound them with a tenderizer or butterfly cut them open (meaning you slice them width-wise almost all the way through and open them up).

To bread the chops, first drag the chop through the egg. Hold it over the bowl and let any excess run off. Then drag the chop through the bread crumbs. I repeated these steps a second time for each chop, creating a thicker crust, but it's not necessary if you'd rather not.

It's a good idea to designate one hand for dredging in egg and the other for dredging in the bread crumbs. That will help prevent an unmanageable, awkward shell from encasing your hands.

Place the chops in a large baking dish. It seems obvious in hindsight, but remember to grease up the dish in some manner. Otherwise, the breading you so carefully created will tear away from the pork when transitioning to the plate. Bake for approximately 20 minutes. As always, it's a good idea to cut into the thickest chop to judge done-ness. You want the pork to be white throughout, no pink.

Serving Suggestions:

Applesauce is a no-brainer companion for pork chops. If you want to be fancy, sprinkle a little cinnamon over it and stir for a nice, swirling pattern. Potatoes or any other hearty vegetable work well also. Yes, those are the roasted veggies I told you about last week.

Simply Sides: Roasted Vegetables

Robert Burns once wrote "The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." Nowhere is that more true than in the kitchen. Last night, I fully intended to set the scene for another Leftover Corner, turning chili into chili cheese dogs. Alas, I returned from work to find that the chili I had been counting on had been someone's lunch, just hours earlier. That's the risk you take, though, when you play the leftover game.

Since I assume that just about everyone knows how to make plain hot dogs, I offer, instead, a consolation side: Roasted Vegetables.

Ingredients:
3-5 Potatoes
1 Bell Pepper
1 Large Onion
1 Bag of Baby Carrots
Olive Oil
Thyme
Basil
Rosemary
Red Pepper Flakes
Salt

Steps/Analysis
Slice your onion, pepper, and potatoes into wedges of roughly the same shape. This ensures that everything will be done at the same time.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your olive oil, herbs, and spices. You want enough oil to coat all of the veggies, but not so much to soak them. There's a fine line between sticking to the pan and sogginess; it'll take a couple tries to get it right, but the potential damage is minimal so don't be afraid. I also encourage you to play around with your herbage. This combination (heavy on the thyme) has worked well for me in the past, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.

Place your sliced vegetables and baby carrots into the bowl and toss to coat. Pour everything into a baking dish and place in a 375 degree oven. Cooking time will vary slightly depending on the thickness of your wedges, but you should check on them after about half an hour. If the potatoes are tender, you're good to go.

Notes:
This is a simple, hardy side. It's easy to replicate and vary. It's hard to screw up and goes with just about any meal.

Leftover Corner: Sauce to Stromboli

One of the easiest ways to make a meal appear out of thin air is to creatively use leftovers. As a cook, I love to cheat. I have no qualms about taking something already prepared (usually by my mother), adding a few ingredients, and making an entirely new dinner. I imagine that one day I'll be repurposing myown leftovers, but for the time being, it makes perfect sense to use whatever I can get my hands on. In that spirit, I'm proud to introduce a new segment (thread? theme?) on The B.A. Gourmet: Leftover Corner!

You don't have to eat spaghetti and meatballs three nights in a row just because you have a big pot of sauce in your fridge. With a little dough, you can easily turn that into strombolis! For those who haven't been fortunate enough to have a background in fine Italian eatables, a stromboli is similar to a calzone, kind of an Italian turnover - a rolled, hot sandwich.

Ingredients:

1 Pot of Leftover Sauce and Meatballs

2 Packages of Pre-made Pizza Dough

Grated Mozzerella Cheese

Sliced Pepperoni

Sliced Olives

Steps/Analysis:

You'll want to lay everything out ahead of time. The fewer moves you make, the better your strombolis will hold up. Find some counter space and dust it with flour. Next to that area, you'll want to lay out a baking sheet or pizza stone.

Unwrap your first package of pizza dough and flour up your hands and a rolling pin. Starting in the center of the dough, roll outward. Rotate the dough as necessary; you're aiming for a long, roughly rectangular shape.

I decided to make one pepperoni and one meatball stromboli, but you could take the same basic idea and make limitless versions and combinations.

For the first stromboli, ladle on a layer of sauce and then sprinkle on a generous amount cheese. Put a layer of pepperoni and olive slices on top of that. At this point, tuck in the ends and roll the stromboli. Smooth down the seam as well as you can and then place that side down on your sheet or stone.

The construction of the meatball stromboli is very similar. Instead of pepperoni, cut up as many meatballs as you need to fill your roll. I prefer to add the cheese on top of the meatballs, instead of between them and the sauce; that seems to hold everything together better.

Make sure each stromboli has enough room to expand and leak a little (it's inevitable) and place them in a 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Serving:

Let the strombolis sit around for a few minutes before eating. The insides need to settle down and stabilize. Otherwise, they'll run out in a lava flow when you cut the strombolis into manageable pieces.

As long as you're careful assembling everything, it's very difficult to go wrong with this recipe.

Chicken Marsala: Classy and Easier to Make than You Might Think

Chicken Marsala is the kind of dish I'm used to seeing only on menus of reputable Italian restaurants. As a result, it lodged itself in my brain as one of those dishes I could never hope to make myself. When I discovered how easy the basic recipe is, I thought that someone must be putting me on. Truth be told, the hardest part of this meal was finding Marsala wine in my local liquor store; my eyes are trained to locate drinking wine, not cooking wine.

Ingredients:

Thin-cut Chicken Breasts (as many as you need for the group you're feeding)

1/2 Medium-sized Onion

1/2 Cup Sliced Mushrooms

1/3 Cup Dry Marsala Wine

Steps/Analysis:

Start by putting a large pan over medium heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Quick aside: I thought it might be a good idea to season the oil with basil and thyme. I experienced a lot of spitting oil throughout the cooking process, but it was difficult for me to determine if that was because of the amount of oil, the herbs, or an improper heat. In any case, it was a nuisance to deal with, but not overly painful or dangerous. I invite comments to let me know where I went wrong.

Cook your chicken breasts for approximately 3-5 minutes per side, depending on thickness. I always cut them open as I go along to make sure there's no pink in the middle. Remove breasts to a dish and cover to keep warm.

Thinly slice your onion and sautee with the mushrooms in the same pan for just a couple minutes. Don't let them get mushy.

Carefully add your Marsala wine and stir up all the goodness stuck to the bottom of your pan. Salt liberally. Heat for a few minutes before putting your chicken back in the pan. Stir to coat the breasts.

That's it! No lie! I went for the most basic of sides to accompany the chicken: baked potatoes and frozen green beans, both cooked in the microwave.

Notes:

This recipe is good, but a little bland and lifeless as is. In the future, I might bread the chicken first for a little more flavor/texture. Also, it might not be a bad idea to thicken up the sauce a little bit or maybe add some chicken stock to it.

I know I've forced a lot of chicken on you lately (mostly because it's a pretty safe place for a beginning chef to start), but don't worry; my next post will bring something new to the table!

B.A. Gourmet Instant Classic: Enchiladas

Since it's going to become very apparant within a few more posts anyway, I may as well fill you in; I have a weakness for Mexican food. Chipotle Mexican Grill is easily one of my favorite restaurants and Taco Bell is my favorite fast food. If there's a burrito on the menu, chances are I'll order it.



As a result, many of my early dinner attempts naturally leaned south of the border. I consider those recipes some of my greatest successes. Case in point, my enchiladas.


Ingredients:
10 8"-10" Tortillas
2 Packages of Purdue Short-Cuts Chicken Breast Strips*
1 Medium-Large Onion
1 Bell Pepper
10 Ounce Can of Enchilada Sauce
16 Ounce Can of Refried Beans
1 Packet of Fajita Seasoning
Shredded Cheese (I prefer a 'Mexican blend' for this and most other applications)
Sliced Olives
Sliced Jalapenos (Canned works well in this recipe)


Steps/Analysis:
A simple sautee: oil in pan over medium heat, sliced onion and bell peppers in pan until slightly browned and just a little soft. You're going to finish everything up in the oven, so you still want them to have enough structure to withstand that.


Dump your chicken and fajita seasoning into the pan. The seasoning packet will have its own instructions for the proper ratio of water to seasoning. Stir to warm the chicken strips and coat with the seasoning mixture.


Find a large, rectangular baking dish (look for something that will fit your rolled up tortillas snugly) and pour half of the enchilada sauce into the bottom. Open up all your cans and packages at this point and arrange them close to the pan and baking dish; there will be some dripping during the preparation.


Enchilada Filling and Rolling Instructions:
1. Spread a thin layer of refried beans onto the center of the tortilla.
2. Spoon chicken, onion, and peppers on across the diameter of the tortilla.
3. Sprinkle on a generous layer of cheese. This is going to help seal everything up and hold it all in place.
4. Place jalapenos and olives on top of the cheese. This is optional and interchangeable, of course, depending on what you like on your Mexican food.
5. Roll and place seam side down in your baking dish.
6. Repeat until you run out of tortillas or space in the dish, whichever comes first.

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas and cover with another layer of cheese.


Place dish into a 400-415 degree, preheated oven. Everything in your enchiladas is already cooked, so you're really only looking for all the cheese to melt. This should take approximately 10-15 minutes.



Serving Suggestions:
Chips, salsa, and guacamole are always welcome to the party. (Why not use the Spruced-up Guac I told you about a few posts ago?) Hot sauce is good too.


Notes:
Literally no complaints. I got rave reviews from my girlfriend and my family, including a mother who doesn't like heat and a brother who can't stand olives. If you're cooking for people with a taste for Mexican, this will knock it out of the park. This will definitely be a repeat performance.


*Purdue Short-Cuts are a must for any beginning cook. They have about a million uses and come in a variety of flavors. In addition, they cut huge chunks of time out of meal preparation at a reasonable price. Look for these to show up in future recipes.

Orange Chicken Stir-fry

Recently, I've been eating a lot of beef, mostly steak. I took that into account this past weekend when planning my dinner and decided that I would aim for a simple chicken dish. Since I hadn't yet delved into Asian cuisine, stir-fry seemed a logical choice.

Ingredients:
6 Thin-cut Chicken Breasts
1 Medium-sized Onion
1 Bell Pepper (I actually chose half green and half red for visual appeal)
1 Large Orange
1 Glass (about 8 ounces) of Orange Juice
1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 Cup Salsa (strange, I know, but stick with me for now)
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Corn Starch
White Rice


Steps/Analysis:
Cut the chicken breasts into roughly bite-size pieces. Chop onion and pepper into similar size strips. Cook in a large pan with enough oil to coat the bottom over medium-high heat. Once the chicken is cooked through the center (do yourself a favor and cut the largest one you can find open to check, don't guess) remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.


In a bowl, combine orange juice, vinegar, salsa, soy sauce, brown sugar, and corn starch. Pour sauce into the same pan, stirring to loosen up any bits and pieces that may have stuck to the bottom. Heat the sauce until it becomes slightly thickened.


At this point, depending on the brand and amount you are cooking, it's probably a good idea to start boiling up your rice. In my case, the rice only took 8-10 minutes once the water came to a boil so this is when I started it.


Peel and chop your orange into bite-size pieces.

Return chicken, onions, peppers and orange pieces, to the now thickened sauce, stirring to coat.


Serving:
Just bring the entire pan to the table with a wide spoon for serving. I put the rice in a separate bowl so that people could plate that up first and pour the chicken and sauce over it.



Notes:
The online stir-fry recipes that I used for reference called for pineapple chunks/juice and tomato sauce instead of orange chunks/juice and salsa. Since I already had all the other ingredients in my house, I took some liberties and made those changes. The result was tasty, but very acidy. Someone with a sensitive stomach or heartburn issues may have trouble with this dinner. In the future, I would try to find something a little basic to even out the sauce's pH a little.

Also, I used a dash of hot sauce on my own plate. Obviously, you should season to taste.

Spruced-up Guacamole

Since I've got a few recipes back-logged at this point in time, I thought I'd parse some out as time and interest allowed. This first taste isn't a meal, but it is one of my favorite shortcut snacks/sides: Spruced-up Guacamole.

Ingredients:
Store-bought guacamole
Onion
Tomato
Bell Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
1/2 of a Lime
Salt

Steps/Analysis:
I prefer organic guacamole out of a tub rather than a tube. That may be an aesthetic choice, though. Something about squeezing creamy, green goo out a small opening rubs me the wrong way and conjurs up all kinds of unappetizing imagery.

Dump the guac into a bowl and break out your cutting board. At this point, I encourage you to experiment with your own methods; see what appeals to your tastes. I don't think I've ever made this the same way twice, but here are the general ratios that seem to work best for me.

Onion is your work horse here. It's going to provide a lot of good, contrasting texture. I recommend up to half of a medium-sized onion, depending on how much guacamole you have. In any case, you should add about twice as much onion as any other ingredient. Chop and toss in equal amounts tomato and bell pepper and one small jalapeno.

A couple important notes about the jalapeno. First, scrape out all the seeds. You want the flavor, but a minimal amount of heat; that's not what guac is about. Second, wear gloves of some kind. I cannot stress that enough. Wash all you want, the raw jalapeno will stay on your hands and under your nails for days and you will pay the price. If you use canned or otherwise already processed jalapenos (which is certainly an option) this isn't as much of a concern.

Squeeze half of a lime over the mixture, no more. There's a lot of moisture in the tomatoes you added and you don't want soupy dip. The acid will keep your guac green by preventing oxidation and that nasty brown color. Stir everything up and salt to taste.

That's it! Serve and enjoy. 15 minutes of effort and the fresh ingredients will liven up any store-bought guacamole to the point where people will swear you made it from scratch. You can decide whether or not to tell them the truth. That's none of my concern.

Storage Tip:
If possible, put the guacamole back into the original tub. Get some plastic wrap and press it down right on top of the dip. You want to make as much contact as possible, removing all of the air that you can. Your guac will stay green for at least another day or two.

An Introduction, of Sorts

I graduated from college in the spring of 2008 and, like many undergraduates, moved back in with my family while I sought out job opportunities, formed graduate school plans, and generally familiarized myself with life as a real, functioning adult in the world.

Truth be told, I was very comfortable as a child; some might say spoiled. My dad worked and my mom stayed at home, cleaning, cooking, and otherwise making sure the little things that held our lives together remained in good, working order. She loved to cook (must have, to have been so good at it) and had a firm background in Italian cuisine, passed down through the family, that extended easily into other specialties. Home-cooked dinners were the norm, often accompanied by home-made desserts. A part of me looked forward to my return home as a return to my childhood, expected to be welcomed with pasta, tacos, soup, and cookies.

That was not to be, though. It was a time of transition, not only for myself, but for my parents and my brother. Without children who required her constant supervision and attention, my mother went back to work at a quilt shop (long a hobby of hers), which required her to commit to long, irregular hours. She enjoyed the work, but it kept her out of the house most evenings. That left the three men of the house to fill the dinner-time void.

An endless and redundant series of Sam's Club frozen meals followed: chicken fried rice, pizza, pot pies, chicken parmigiana, repeat. They were easy enough to make (a top priority). Most involved merely dumping the contents of sealed, plastic bags into a pot or pan and heating until palatable. These were serviceable meals, almost a novel change in the beginning. Soon, though, I tired of the rubbery, tasteless cuts of meat and overly salted sauces. I ate small portions quickly, before my stomach could turn. A change had to be made.

Complaining, besides being a petulant offense to the people who had dutifully taken care of me for eighteen plus years, wouldn't affect any change. Of the options before me, a proactive course of action would be best. I committed myself to cook a meal for the entire family one night per week. I chose Tuesday; my thought was that if I could cook a real meal after working an eight hour day at an office, it might inspire my father and brother to similar feats and we could eat real food at least four days a week.

My initial attempts were clumsy, though edible. I had good instincts in the kitchen (likely the result of watching my mother at work), but the execution and presentation were often awkward. What could I expect? Even in college I deferred to the dining halls more often than not. My greatest culinary success was a fool-proof BBQ chicken pizza, though even that had been my mother's invention.

It occurred to me that I was one of thousands, perhaps millions, struggling to feed myself with a Writing (English, Philosophy, Biology, etc.) degree. Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those people share stories of valiant attempts at cooking for the first time in his or her life? Thus, the B.A. (bachelor of arts, for anyone outside my key demographic) Gourmet came to be.

What can you expect from this blog? Recipes and instructions on a (roughly) weekly basis for simple, tasty meals. As a poor college graduate with plans for my future in the works, I promise that cost and cooking time will be twp of my most important considerations. If I'm in the kitchen for more than an hour, I'm probably putting out a fire. Will every post represent a scrumptious banquet? No, but I'll let you know what went wrong (as well as I can diagnose it) and how I might improve in a subsequent attempt.

Thanks for following the B.A. Gourmet! I hope you all laugh and learn along the way to a decent meal.