Random thoughts for the day. Did you know that bottled water has an expiration date? I didn’t. I mean, I guess I just never realized that bottled water would expire. Silly me!
Did you also know that John has the coldest feet EVER! He is always sticking his cold feet on me and it makes me freeze! Someone buy him a pair of socks.
Did you also know that the past tense of squeeze is not squoze? Yes, I use the word squoze…squeezed just doesn’t seem right. :)
I have just had those few thoughts on my mind for a few days.
Back on task. A couple of days ago, I used part of a pork tenderloin roast in a recipe. I had the other half of it in the fridge and knew I needed to use it. Instead of just your typical pulled pork or pork roast, I wanted to make something a little bit more creative. I started looking at pork dishes on the internet and I came across Pork Scaloppini. I looked at about 30 different recipes. When I say different, I mean DIFFERENT. There was really no general consensus on how to make Pork Scaloppini other than lightly breading and frying pork, then serving with some variation of a cream sauce or gravy. I chose to go the cream sauce route, which was a great idea!
- 1 pound of pork tenderloin cut into 1” thick pieces (this made three 1” pieces - so, if you need more than three pieces, buy a bigger roast - this recipe does make enough sauce to accommodate the extra pork)
- ½ package sliced mushrooms
- ½ large onion diced
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil finely chopped
- ½ tsp. red pepper flakes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¾ cup half and half or heavy cream if you prefer
- Lemon juice - I used ½ lemon
- 1 cup seasoned flour (regular flour seasoned with salt and pepper)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan cheese for garnish
Pound your pieces of pork with a meat mallet/pounder/hammer/tenderizer (whatever you want to call it) until they are about a ¼ of an inch thick. Note: You really have to pound the crap out of them. To avoid a mess, I like to stick them in a large, unsealed zip-lock bag, then pound. Coat each piece with the seasoned flour and set aside. If you don’t want to have to pound your pork, buy thin cut boneless pork chops - I am sure they would work fine. If you don’t like pork, just use chicken cutlets.
In a large skillet, melt butter and olive oil over medium-high heat. When melted, add pork and sauté 3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside. Turn heat to medium and add in the garlic, onions, and mushrooms. Sauté until just beginning to brown. Add in fresh herbs, red pepper flake, and chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer the broth mixture for 15 minutes on medium heat (use medium heat because you do want the sauce to reduce a bit).
After the broth has cooked for 15 minutes, reduce heat to low and add in the half-and-half/cream. Stir to mix. Gradually raise the heat until the mixture becomes slightly bubbly. Place your pork back into the cream mixture and cook over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice.
Serve pork and sauce over your favorite pasta and top with a little bit of parmesan cheese.
As you can see, I served mine over some cheese ravioli. I would not make that mistake again. Don’t get me wrong, it was very good, but holy cow was it ever rich. It was just too much. I would definitely use plain pasta next time or even some orzo. That would be good too. The brocollini was a plus because it helped lighten things up.
