I started with the Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Grapes and Almonds. Calvin and I like Brussels sprouts; Collin does not. Either way, I decided to try this since the recipe does not call for Brussels sprouts as a whole. I figured if I could hide them from him until it was all finished that I could trick him and he would never know what he was eating, as I often do with things he doesn't like that I do. Unfortunately, he saw them and questioned me before I even started dinner. Damn it.
This recipe suggests using a mandoline to shave the Brussels sprouts which, up until today, I thought was some kind of guitar. Thank God for google. I decided to use the slicing attachment on my food processor (this was a Christmas gift from my mother in law and I love her more every time I use it) in lieu of the alternative suggested knife, so the process went quickly. The most annoying thing about making this was having to squeeze out the excess liquid from the Brussels sprouts. It suggests using a salad spinner, which I don't have and wish I did because apparently I need one a lot more than I think I do. I had to resort to wasting about 10 paper towels to get the moisture out. Other than that, this was easy peasy. Toss everything in a bowl and done. I stuck it in the fridge to get a nice chill on it and when all was said and done this was ridiculously good. I thought I would hate it for some reason. I forced Collin into trying it and (surprise surprise) he hated it. I have to wonder though if he would have liked it had he not seen the Brussels sprouts before hand. I feel like I will make this many more times - though just for me as this will make a good lunch.
Surprisingly good!
Next up were the pork chops. These are named Literally Stovetop because they're breaded in Stovetop stuffing, which is probably one of my favorite things in the world. I make myself wait to eat it until Thanksgiving every year and then I make it the main portion on my plate. I don't like other people's stuffing - this is the only kind I crave and I crave it something awful. I was thrilled to be eating it before Thanksgiving even thought I felt a bit guilty. I don't know why. I just did.
Now, this recipe tells you to fry up the pork chops on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes max per side. In my experience with frying...well...pretty much anything...you fry it on medium or anything lower than that. But, I figure, she's got her own cookbook and I don't so I'll do it her way. And 2 minutes into the fry I found they were burning. I flipped them and did the other side thinking maybe there's some sort of magic that's about to happen. Nope. Just before the other side burnt, I removed them from the heat and cut into it to see what I was working with. Still raw. So, I turned down the heat because I had to finish cooking them through, but basically the first 2 pork chops burned. I scraped off what I could and told Collin I'd be packing barbeque sauce with his lunch to mask the burnt parts. Once the trial and error part was over, the other two chops turned out ok. I would use even lower heat the next time, but they turned out alright.
Heat issues aside, these were just not good. The stuffing only absorbed the oil and that's pretty much all you could taste. There was no stuffing flavor at all and I feel like I would have been more satisfied using standard seasoned flour. I wasted an entire box of stuffing and I just feel dirty now.
It made a very pretty meal, though.
No comments:
Post a Comment