So, I have been having some computer issues for the past couple of days. Yesterday, I could not get on the Internet, and today I lost some of my photos, including the photos of last nights dinner. I copies the photos from last night's meal off my camera, but they would not paste correctly onto my hard drive. I got an error message and then "poof" they were gone. Ugh. Oh well, I think I only lost some food photos, and nothing truly important. Frustrating, to say the least. Since I am late with my posts for dinner last night, I will just update both recipes and tell you how it turned out. I am hoping to get back to my normal format, providing I don't have any other computer problems.
Last night, I made two really yummy recipes from Cooking Light. The pork chop dish was brand new, and the couscous side dish was something that we have had in the past and really liked a lot. Again, the couscous did not disappoint. It was fantastic. This is truly my favorite couscous recipe. If you are unfamiliar with couscous, this is a great dish to try.
Now on to the pork chops... Let me tell you, the pork chops were amazing. They were pretty easy to make (all in one pan), and the sauce was drinkable (which is a good thing in my book). This pork chop sauce was so yummy, the husband and I were eating it out of the pan. It was that awesome. I love that the whiskey in this dish lends a great depth of flavor, without being too strong or off-putting. The trick is to let it reduce until all the whiskey is almost all evaporated. There was just enough flavor leftover to infuse the sauce, without being overpowering with the taste whiskey. Since pretty much almost all of the alcohol cooked off, I was fairly comfortable feeding this to my son (we skipped giving him any extra sauce, and he just ate the meat part). Everyone at the table really liked it, so I will definitely be making this dish again.
I served my meal with a side of broccoli. I would show you how beautiful and eye-appealing everything was, but alas, my photos are gone and I am really cranky about it. Ugh. Both of these recipes are total keepers, and I love that they are considered "light". Good and good for you!!!!
One-Pan Whiskey Flavored Pork Chops
Ingredients:
2/3 cup fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops, trimmed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1/2 cup whiskey
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300°.
Combine the first 6 ingredients in a small bowl.
Sprinkle pork with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; sauté 5 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove pork from pan. Add onion and mushrooms to pan; sauté for 3 minutes. Carefully add whiskey to pan; cook for 1 minute or until liquid almost evaporates. Stir sour cream mixture into pan. Return pork to pan; spoon sauce over pork.
Wrap handle of skillet with foil (or use oven safe pan). Cover and bake at 300° for minimum 1/2 hour to maximum 1 hour. Serve immediately.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 pork chop and about 1/3 cup sauce)
CALORIES 310 (28% from fat); FAT 9.6g (sat 3g,mono 4.5g,poly 1.1g); IRON 2mg; CHOLESTEROL 71mg; CALCIUM 16mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24.3g; SODIUM 546mg; PROTEIN 29.5g; FIBER 1.3g
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2001
Jen's Notes:
I only cooked my pork chops for 1/2 hour. Seriously, 1 hour for pork chops is way to long of a cook time.
Couscous Pilaf
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of chicken stock
1 cup uncooked couscous
1/3 cup dried cherries
¼ cup of toasted slivered almonds
3 Tablespoons chopped, fresh flat leaf parsley
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon lemon zest(or you can substitute a few splashes of lemon juice)
¼ teaspoon of salt
¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Bring chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan, over medium high heat. Add couscous. Cover and remove from heat. Let couscous stand for approximately 5 minutes (until stock is absorbed). Fluff with a fork. Stir in cherries, almonds, parsley, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Serve and enjoy!
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