I’ve had a really good string of great meals lately, but this last week I had a couple of back to back failures. Well, the word “failure” might overstate it a bit.

The first dish was some extra breaded chicken that Norman had brought over for me to use up. He gave me pretty specific directions on how to cook them but the pan got too hot and burnt the outside without cooking them all the way through. I had to oven cook them for a bit and I couldn’t seem to get the meat thermometer to read properly. They seemed to end up burnt and overcooked a bit, but not terrible. I made what ended up being an extremely mediocre salad as a side. I was pretty disappointed all around.

The very next day I was pretty determined to redeem myself with a Chicken Gyro dish. The recipe tasted fantastic, but our broiler burnt out the Naan bread well before my instructions said they should. It said to warm for 3 minutes with foil over the top and then uncover for about 2 to brown them. It took about 45 seconds to go from warm to black and I wasn’t paying close enough attention. Regardless, the meal is worth making again.

A few days ago I had seen a recipe on TV (Cook’s Country) for whiskey barbecue pork chops that looked pretty amazing. I put that together last night with some pan fried potatoes that I grabbed from a recipe online.

If I were to do this again, I would probably make more sauce for the pork chops. It was delicious. Enjoy

Whiskey Pork Chops
Serves 4

• 1/2 cup  Whiskey (save some for dessert!)
• 1/2 cup apple juice (cider)
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 4 bone-in, center-cut pork chops, about 1-inch thick
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a bowl, whisk together whiskey, cider, brown sugar, mustard, cayenne pepper, vanilla and 2 teaspoons vinegar.
2. Transfer 1/4 of the whiskey mixture to a gallon-sized zip-loc plastic bag. Reserve remaining marinade.
3. Add pork chops, press the air out of the bag, and seal. Turn bag to coat the chops with the marinade. Refrigerate for about 1 hour.
4. Remove chops from the bag and pat with paper towels. Discard that marinade.
5. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Season chops with salt and pepper and cook until well browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Chops should not be fully cooked yet.
7. Transfer the chops to a plate and cover tightly with aluminum foil.
8. Add reserved whiskey mixture to the skillet.
9. Bring to a boil and scrape up any browned bits with a wooden spoon.
10. Cook until reduced to a thick glaze, 3-5 minutes.
11. Reduce heat to medium-low and tip the plate with the chops on over the skillet to drain any juices that accumulated back into the skillet.
12. Add remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, whisk in butter and simmer until glaze is thick and sticky, 2-3 minutes.
13. Turn off head and return chops to skillet and let them rest in the pan until the glaze sticks to the pork chops. Evenly coat both sides
14. Check with a meat thermometer at the thickest part of the chop. It should read at least 145°. It takes 5-7 minutes.

Panfried Smashed Potatoes
Via Epicurious (I skipped on the cheese)
Serves 4

• 8 medium red potatoes (about 2 inches long; 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1. Generously cover potatoes with cold water in a 3-to 4-quart pot and add 1 tablespoon salt.
2. Boil until almost tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Drain potatoes. Transfer to a baking sheet.
4. Lightly crush to about 3/4 inch thick with a potato masher, keeping potatoes intact as much as possible.
5. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers.
6. Transfer potatoes with a spatula to skillet, then lower heat to medium-low and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 20 minutes total.
7. Season generously with pepper.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 9:36 am and is filed under cooking, food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.