Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Food, glorius food!!!

I made a great breaded pork tenderloin last week (ala the pork cutlet you can find in a fried pork tenderloin sandwich that's popular in parts o' the midwest) and I thought I'd share with ya'll. It actually uses a technique I saw them use on America's Test Kitchen a couple weeks back for a lightened chicken parm recipe (that is equally awesome).


Lighter Breaded Pork Tenderloin
Serving Size : 6

1 1/ cups panko
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/ pounds pork tenderloin
1 1/ teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper -- to taste
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1/ cup all-purpose flour
vegetable cooking spray

Preparing the Pork tenderloin - Cut pork tenderloin in to 6 even sized pieces. Place on plastic wrap. Top with a second sheet of plastic wrap and pound gently to an even 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with remaining cutlets, adding additional oil as needed.

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 475 degrees. Combine the bread crumbs and oil in a 12-inch skillet and toast over medium heat, stirring often, until golden, about 10 minutes. Spread the bread crumbs in a shallow dish and cool slightly.

In a second shallow dish, combine the flour, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together. In a third shallow dish, whisk the egg whites and water together.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil, place a wire rack on top, and spray the rack with vegetable oil spray. Pat the cutlets dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper.

Lightly dredge the cutlets in the flour, shaking off the excess, then dip into the egg whites, and finally coat with the bread crumbs, Press on the bread crumbs to make sure they adhere. Lay the cutlets on the wire rack.

Spray the tops of the chicken with vegetable oil spray. Bake until the meat is no longer pink in the center and feels firm when pressed with a finger, about 15-20 minutes.


Funny how you just don't think of a simple thing like browning panko before you coat something... and wow, what a difference it makes. Both the chicken parm and the pork chops were beyond awesome for "light" food.

Also made an awesome Szechuan Shrimp recipe tonight... I've been trying to find a good one for awhile, and although I did a little switching of ingredients for what I had/didn't have easily on hand tonight. And I did use less soy sauce. Damn close to good versions I've gotten when we've eaten out (or take out) from our fave places.

Tomorrow I'm slummin' it food wise... well, lunch is going to be some lobster bisque that I am hoping is really really really close (or is) Hope & Tim's lobster bisque. They had their soups in one of the chain grocery stores around here for awhile, but those bastards then cut me off cold turkey! Not a container or drop of them to be found in any of the stores anymore. And trust me, I did my fare share of cleaning out the shelves of their stuff. It was all awesom. But I did notice on their site that they are also carried at Costco, and on a trip today, I saw a Kirkland brand lobster bisque that looks surprisingly like my lost love. We'll see.

What was I talking about before I had to write a paragraph on lobster bisque??

Oh yeah, slummy food.

Tomorrow is a Smothered Buttermilk Chicken recipe, I have heard good things about it from people who are equal food snobs, so we'll see. Even leaving out the peas, I'm thinking the hubby might not be such a fan of it, although he's getting over his buttermilk phobia, I've heard it's a lot like an inside of a chicken pot pie, and the hubby is not a fan of pot pies. We'll see. If the hubby doesn't want any, there is lunchmeat in the fridge and he's a big boy who can make a sammich for himself.

1 comment:

Marilyn said...

Thanks for the food inspiration! I just may have to try some of these out. As I am now a Hoosier and I absolutely love breaded pork tenderloin, I appreciate your recipe. Nigella Lawson has a great recipe for Crunchy pork chops. Substitute a boneless pork loin and butterfly it before whacking the life out of it and you have a decent breaded pork tenderloin.