It does require a bit of advanced planning because of the brining step, but you don’t want to leave that out. I used to never cook pork chops because they always seemed to dry out on me, but the brining keeps them juicy and tender. (Interestingly – I recently learned that the way this works has to do at least partly with the motor protein myosin, which I’m studying; if you want to know how, ask me about it sometime.) It’s similar to marinating, but in a very high salt solution. Because it’s so much salt, you only leave it for a couple hours, instead of the several hours or overnight that you might normally marinate something. I haven’t tried, but I think it would probably get too salty if you left it longer than that. (If someone tries it and it works, let me know.

Another nice thing about this recipe is it’s easy to scale up or down — I first made it for just myself when Matt was in Taiwan, but making it for several folks is easy too. The pork chops are great with some sauteed greens, perfect for this time of year!

Pork Chops Saltimbocca

adapted from Gourmet
The butter and lemon sauce is optional (though mighty tasty), but don’t skip the brining step. It makes cooking the pork chops so much more forgiving.

Serves 2

2 1″ thick boneless pork chops
lemon juice
salt
basil
2 slices of fontina cheese
2 pieces of prosciutto
4 sage leaves

Soak the porkchops in the brine for about 2 hours.

Cut a deep pocket halfway through the pork chop. Stuff with a slice of fontina, a piece of prosciutto, and a couple sage leaves. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium high, and sear pork chops on one side for a couple minute. Turn and place in the oven. Roast at 450 for about ten minutes. Deglaze the pan with the butter and lemon juice, and serve as sauce on top.

ShareThis

I purposely made more food than I thought we needed to feed the six of us last Thanksgiving, since I enjoy the leftovers and finding ways to use them. Matt and I had a couple nights of just reheating the leftovers pretty much as they were originally served, but the real fun part is figuring out ways to make the leftovers into something new. I especially had a lot of leftover sweet potatoes, and decided to try adding them to pancakes. I adapted the buttermilk pancakes I usually make from The Joy of Cooking, adding my sweet potato casserole (which was topped with coconut and hazelnuts) and some spices. Since these are a good bit sweeter than normal pancakes, they were especially great topped with tart leftover cranberry sauce!

Pancakes with Sweet Potatoes

adapted from The Joy of Cooking

serves 4 (2-3 pancakes each)

1 1/4 c cake flour
1/2 t salt
3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/8 t cloves
1/4 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon

1 c buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
2 T butter, melted
1/2 c leftover mashed sweet potatoes (pumpkin puree would be good, too)

2-3 T butter, for cooking

Sift together dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).

Combine the buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and sweet potatoes. Stir into the dry ingredients until just mixed (do not overmix).

Melt butter over medium to medium high heat (hot enough that water dropped on it sizzles a bit, but doesn’t go crazy). Drop pancake batter by 1/4 to 1/3 cups. Cook until lightly browned on the bottom and the edges are dry, a few minutes, and then flip and cook until the other side is browned. (I think because the batter is a bit thicker from the potatoes, you don’t really get bubbles rising to the top like you do in normal pancakes, but they were done when I cooked them as described.)

Serve with cranberry sauce, maple syrup, or honey.

ShareThis

Honestly, I didn’t measure anything very carefully, but just tasted it and added things until I liked the flavor. But, it turned out so well, I at least wanted to have a record for next year of what I put in. I think this kind of thing is best made tasting as you go anyway, since what it needs will depend on the flavor and sweetness of your cranberries.

Cranberry Sauce

This is a rough outline of a recipe. These are the ingredients I use, but the amounts will need to be tweaked, depending on your taste and the tartness of the cranberries. I think I ended up with more spices than this, but this is a place to start – it’s easier to add more than to take some away!

Makes about a pint

3/4 of a bag of cranberries (3-4 cups)
1/4 c of brown sugar, plus more to taste
zest of one orange
1 T grated ginger
1/4 t cloves
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t fresh grated nutmeg

Combine cranberries, brown sugar, and a couple tablespoons of water. Cook over medium heat. Once it starts bubbling and the cranberries break down, turn down to a simmer and add the orange zest and spices. Simmer until the cranberries are cooked down and falling apart, tasting to adjust the sugar and spices.

ShareThis