220615 Pork Chop

Going out of my comfort zone, I tried frying a pork chop for lunch the other day. Looking up recipes online, I decided to go with the simplest step mentioned in passing at this site, which is to season the meat with olive oil, salt and pepper.

Afterwards, I simply put on the pan and let it fry. 

The final result was surprisingly flavorful and tender, though I couldn't quite get the pork skin right. Maybe next time. 

Fish Fillet - Third Way

Allow fillet to defrost before putting it in aluminum. Normally would use foil but found this tray and reused it. It was a perfect fit for both fish fillet and oven toaster. 

Crush some peanuts. For lack of a mortar and pestle, a spoon and ceramic bowl does the trick. Position the spoon above a few peanuts and apply just enough pressure to crush without scattering them all over the place. This amount consists of three packs of Happy peanuts (you might want to use more if your fillet is bigger). It adds just a bit of crunch to the dish.

Mix peanuts in enough mayonnaise to cover the fish, maybe three to five spoonfuls. Spread mixture over fish.

Sprinkle parmesan cheese and cook in your oven toaster. Tried it on high (450 degrees) for five minutes but the cheese began to burn so turned the heat down to 350 degrees for the next ten minutes. Quite yummy. 

A variant:

The picture above is basically the same recipe but this time,
some pistachio was mixed with the peanuts. Oven toaster was
set at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. Found this did not
quite have the same toasty effect on the cheese so will
keep the five minutes on high for the next time.

Fish Fillet - Two Ways

There is a nice fish fillet at the supermarket that lends itself so easily to the novice cook. I've done two versions: steamed and fried. My sister likes to cover it up with mayo and parmesan cheese and put it in the oven toaster. Quite yummy.

For the steamed version, slice the fillet and season with salt, pepper, sage, rosemary and thyme. Place the fillets in the steamer (rice cooker); and allow to cook. It would be nice to be able to cook rice at the same time and hit two birds with one stone. However, rice cooks rather quickly, which could leave your fish almost cooked but not quite; so the safer route is to cook rice and fish separately.

I actually prefer the fried version. Beat an egg and season to taste (salt, herbs). Dip the fish slices in the egg and then fry.

Serve with sweet chili sauce or mayonnaise. Bon apetit!