Tag Archives: Main Course

Parmesan Pork Cutlets

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Bryan’s been craving fried chicken for, oh, forever. This isn’t fried chicken, but it is crunchy. And moist. And simple, simple, simple.

(I fell a bit like a broken record when talking about the recipes from this book. Everything is good. And simple. And fast. I need some new adjectives.)

So, Parmesan Pork Cutlets. You take thin-cut boneless pork chops, dredge then in flour, beaten egg and panko breadcrumbs and grated Parmesan. Next, you saute the meat for a few minutes in olive oil, until both sides are crunchy brown. Then eating commences.

Do I need to say anything more?

Chicken Breasts Amandine

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I’m getting pretty spoiled with this cookbook; this was another quick and satisfying recipe.

You start out by cutting chicken breasts in half and then pounding them until they are quite thin. The chicken cutlets are dredged in flour, then egg and finally panko bread crumbs and sliced almonds. The cutlets are then briefly sauteed.

Unfortunately, I did have a major problem with the almonds burning. It was a bit of a juggling act to get the chicken cooked through before the nuts completely burned. We were able to pick off the most grievously blackened almonds, and the chicken was moist and flavorful, with a really crunchy crust from the panko.

I served this with bell pepper coleslaw (also from the book) made with bagged coleslaw mix and a simply dressing of mayonnaise, vinegar and honey. To jazz things up, you added a sliced bell pepper to the coleslaw and dress it at the last minute, so everything stays crunchy. I also added sesame seeds since I had some laying around. Neither Bryan nor I like coleslaw, but this was really good and went well with the chicken.

Quick Pork Cassoulet

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Porky goodness!

(Anybody else remember the Frugal Gourmet and how he used to proclaim his love for piggy?)

Anyway, here’s another really good recipe out of The Best Simple Recipe. This may not be traditional cassoulet, but it’s fast and easy, and makes a great dinner. You start out by browning chunks of pork tenderloin, sliced Kielbasa sausage and onions. Then you add diced tomatoes, cannellini beans, garlic and chicken broth to the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. Then you enjoy porky goodness.

Like the quick bean chili recipe, this recipe has you puree half the beans. This gives the cassoulet a thick, silky texture that you’d normally get from hours of cooking. Like most of the other dishes we’ve cooked out of this book, leftovers were just as good as the first night’s meal. The only thing I would change would be to add another can of beans. After pureeing half of them, there weren’t that many whole beans in the finished dish.

Shrimp Romesco

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I think I’ve said it here before, but shrimp is not one of my favorite foods. But when I saw this recipe, I was intrigued enough to try it. Also, I had a big bag of almonds sitting in my cupboard.

Romesco sauce is a classic Spanish sauce of red peppers, thickened with almonds. In the Cooks Illustrated version, the sauce is made with jarred roasted red peppers and garlic, and the almonds are toasted with bread crumbs and sprinkled on the shrimp at the end.

This dish is fantastically simply. The sauce comes together quickly, in the food processor, and the shrimp take only a few minutes of cooking. The end result is a bright, tasty dish that even I liked. We had a lot of sauce left over, so the next night, I broiled some frozen mahi mahi and spooned the sauce over the fish.

Parmesan Chicken with Cherry Tomato Salad

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I could tell you how easy this was, but I’ve already done that with most of the other recipes out of this book. I could tell you how tasty it is, but I’ve done that with just about every other dish out of this book as well.

Instead, I’ll just say, “Go make this. You won’t be disappointed.”

Chicken cutlets are covered in flour, dipped in egg and coated in a mixture of panko bread crumbs and grated parmesan cheese. Then you saute the chicken in a bit of olive oil, a couple of minutes per side.

While the chicken is cooking, cut up some tomatoes (the recipe called for cherry tomatoes, but I used small regular tomatoes and quartered them) and chop some fresh basil. Toss the tomatoes with the basil, olive oil and salt and pepper.

When the chicken is done, serve it with a pile of the tomato salad. So good.

Grilled Steaks with Homemade Steak Sauce

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My days of buying steak sauce are over, unless I get lazy, but even that isn’t an excuse. This sauce is quick and easy, and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry right now.

There’s a secret ingredient in this sauce. If you didn’t know what it was, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess it. The secret is raisins, plumped with hot water and then pureed. They disappear into the sauce, and give it a spicy sweetness.

The other main ingredients in the sauce are ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and vinegar. Whirl everything together in the food processor until smooth and spoon it over grilled steaks, grilled hamburgers, roasted potatoes, etc.

Chicken with Pesto-Mushroom Cream Sauce

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I’m running out of superlatives for this cookbook. Here’s another extremely easy, extremely good recipe.

You start out by browning skinless, boneless chicken breasts in a skillet. Once the chicken is browned, you remove it to a plate and add a bunch of mushrooms to the empty skillet and cook them until browned. Then you add cream, chicken broth, garlic and the chicken breasts back into the skillet and simmer until the chicken is cooked through.

Once the chicken is done, you stir in pesto and lemon juice and serve, preferably over rice so none of the creamy, pesto-y sauce goes to waste. That’s it. Really.

Chinese Orange Beef

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As I went to make this dish, I realized that I didn’t have any Asian chili-garlic sauce. What I did have was some Sriracha sauce. I checked the ingredients and it (the sriracha sauce) had chili and garlic in it, so I figured it would work. And it did. This dish was good. Orangey and beefy. And spicy.

Spicy. Spicy. SPICY! OH MY GOD MY MOUTH IS BURNING!

Upon reflection, maybe I shouldn’t have used the full amount of chili sauce the recipe called for.

That little point aside, I really liked this dish. Like the rest of the recipes I’ve tried out of this book, this one was quick and easy. You start by searing slices of flank steak in a hot skillet. While the beef is browning, you make a sauce by mixing orange juice and orange zest, brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, fresh ginger, cornstarch and the aforementioned Asian chili-garlic sauce. When the meat is done, you simmer the sauce until it thickens, then add the beef back in.

BAM! THIS IS REALLY GOOD EVEN THOUGH MY MOUTH IS ON FIRE!

Note to self: Less Sriracha sauce next time.

Thin-Cut Pork Chops with Creamed Spinach

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There’s nothing surprising about this dish. Thin-cut pork chops get seared in a hot skillet and then set aside. Spinach is added to the now empty skillet to wilt and pick up all the brown crusty bits left by the pork. A quick cream sauce of flour, cream and chicken broth is made in the pan with the spinach, then poured over the pork chops.

Nothing surprising, but pretty good, especially since the whole thing is done in less than 30 minutes. The pork chops I bought from the supermarket looked mangled, with one side much thinner than the other, but they worked fine. The tin side got a bit dry, but with the sauce from the spinach, you couldn’t really tell.

I’ve never had creamed spinach before, but it was good. I liked that the sauce was thickened with flour and only had 1/2 cup of cream in it. The only change I’d make is to serve the pork chops over something to absorb the sauce. Rice, quinoa or bulgar all would work.

Chickpea Cakes with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

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I love hummus. And hummus is made with chickpeas. So I was sure I’d like these vegetarian patties made primarily with the beans. I wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t love them. I did, however, love the cucumber-yogurt sauce.

The patties are made by crushing two cans of chickpeas and mixing in eggs, bread crumbs, scallions, spices and a shallot. The mixture is formed into patties and fried in a little bit of olive oil.

The patties had okay flavor and a nice meaty texture, but they were a bit dry. Especially on the second day, when I reheated several in the microwave.

The real star of the recipe, the yogurt sauce, is simply shredded, drained cucumbers mixed with scallions and plain Greek yogurt. Some sort of alchemy takes place, as this sauce becomes greater than its parts. Without the sauce, this recipe would be boring.