Cooking for my family

I spoke to my oldest daughter, Helen, today. She lives in Houston, is married to Andy, and has an almost 8 year old daughter, Grace. Helen said she had been reading this blog and was interested in getting some of my recipes. I hadn't thought of doing that but if she found it helpful I'll write some entries from time to time about things I cook and give the recipes. Last week I made Katsudon on Sunday (see photos). Katsudon is a Japanese dish of pork cutlet, breaded with Panko and fried, then simmered in a broth of dashi and soy sauce with onion and egg. It's served over rice. I made some really good tortilla soup on Monday, Cambodian Pork on Tuesday, and Poached Tarragon chicken on Wednesday. Helen said she was looking for good recipes for pork chops. The problem with pork chops is they dry out easily. A great solution for this is braising. Braising is something most of us have done, involving searing the food, adding liquid partially, though not completely, covering the food, then simmering it on the stove or in the oven for 40 minutes or longer. The most popular dish I've made at home that I learned at the school is Country Braised chicken.

For pork, try this recipe for stuffed pork chops:

4 large pork chops (8 oz each)

celery, diced (approx 2 T)

onion, diced (approx 2 T)

butter or oil (1/2 T)

fresh bread crumbs (1/2 c)

parsley (1 T)

salt & pepper

chicken stock (4 cups total)

olive oil (1T)

Cut slit in pork chops. Saute celery and onion in butter or oil. Add bread crumbs, parsley, and salt and pepper. Add stock to get the stuffing to the consistency you desire, but not too wet.

Alternately, you could use cooked wild rice as a stuffing. Use toothpicks to close the slits.

Sear pork chops in hot olive oil. Add stock to partially cover pork chops, bring to a simmer, cover and place in a 325 oven for 45 minutes. Remove chops, degrease the sauce and reduce it.