lundi 27 juin 2005

Pork chops and patheticness.

Et alors, it was time for another dinner party last Friday. Tweedle's back in town (she moved to NY after graduation), and we had these pork chops that we'd been wanting to cook for forever after seeing Food Porn girl cook them on her show.

But first, an appetizer. You know, because you tell my friends 7:30 and they really don't all show up until 8:30. And Tweedle and I were watching Law and Order: SVU (I am obsessed with that show now, I tell you. Almost as obsessed as I am with the Food Network). And really, you need something to take the edge off of the gut-wrenching crime.


So we made baked brie with pesto. And by made, I really mean we took a wheel of brie, made some slits in it, poured some pesto on top of it, and baked it in the oven until it was all gooey and yummy and heart attack good. And we drank that Belgian Red ale with it - great combination! And I really liked the cherry flavours - the more cherry than ale description was spot on, and even though I'm not really a beer/ale drinker, it was really darn good. It opened up as it warmed up a bit, releasing more of the cherry flavour. It's a good thing that that Belgian Red isn't available here (dammit, only available in Wisconsin), because I'm not kidding when I say I'd be drinking it an awful lot, and it's not like we need to further enable my alcoholism.

Finally, the rest of our friends came over, and Tweedle and I regretfully pulled ourselves away from the TV to prep and make the pork chops. Here is the recipe for the pork chops. It's ridiculously easy, and I'll note where we tweaked the recipe in my following description.


The mise-en-place, of breadcrumbs, beaten eggs, and parmesan cheese. Our breadcrumbs weren't seasoned, so we added some dried herbs (basil and parsley) for colour, some salt and pepper, and some cayenne. This recipe is very interesting, because it asks you to coat the pork chops FIRST in cheese, then egg, then breadcrumbs, rather than coating them with egg first. I was initially skeptical of this, but it worked out really well in the end.

(Those dishes above? NOT MINE. Those are my gay roommate's. My dishes are better-looking. He is the antithesis of gay style, and his decorating tastes run more along the grandmother type than cool and sleek. You should see the apartment. It's like living in a mausoleum.)


Here's the dredging in action. (Ugly plate. His.)


And here is a plate of prepped pork chops. Do note how thick the pork chops are. These aren't your mother's pork chops - apparently, all of us had mothers who made those thin bone-in pork chops, which were inevitably cooked to death. Nonono. This recipe makes nice thick juicy boneless pork chops. (Prettier plate. Mine.)


Just look at them. Thick and juicy. Mmmm. (Get your mind out of the gutter. I know it went there.)


The nice cheese/egg/breadcrumb crust cooked rather rapidly, and since we were afraid of it burning while the inside remained undercooked, after about six minutes on each side, we popped the pork chops into the oven to continue cooking while we cooked the rest of the pork chops on the stove.



And here's a plated pork chop, with a light salad that included candied pecans and dried strawberries. The cheese/egg/breadcrumb crust was perfect - thick, it probably helped to keep the pork chop itself moist while it was cooking.

(Another prettier plate. Mine again.)

Dessert? Those yummy chocolate chip cookies. Hey, DDJ, all my friends are in love with you (via those cookies) now.

Then we went out drinking, and let's reiterate how men are stupid as evidenced by the pathetic pickup lines we got:

Scene: Standing outside the bar
Stupid Male #1: It's last call. Would you ladies like to join me and my friends for one last drink? There's Grizzly over there...
One of us: Grizzly? Is that the one with the tattoos?
Stupid Male #1: No, the guy with the tattoos is Monster. His tattoos go up as far as... [And then the Stupid Male proceeds to roll UP the hem of his shorter-than-knee-length linen shorts, up so high it was like, STOP NOW BEFORE WE SEE YOUR CROTCH!]
Another one of us: Well, I have to drive home now, so no thanks..
Stupid Male #1: [Takes the keys out of his pocket and waves them] Take my car. It has police lights!

Scene: Walking home
Stupid Male #2: Hey, would you ladies like a ride? This is a rental!

In the case of Stupid Male #1, I am NOT making up the name of his friends. They apparently were really called Grizzly and Monster. And the guy looked so normal until he opened his mouth. And in the case of Stupid Male #2, the car was some wretchedly ugly bright yellow 70s-looking thing that was definitely NOT a rental. Oh, how the heart flutters. And I wonder why I'm still single in this city, with these wonderful choice men.