April 24th

Almost Piccata

This was almost like one of our favorite dishes, chicken piccata.  Except not quite as good.

Oven Roasted Pork Chops with a Lemon Caper Sauce
recipe from: The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2013

This dinner had great flavor, the pork turned out tender, and the sauce was great, but it kind of just made me wish I was eating chicken piccata.  Stay tuned for that recipe coming up sometime this year!

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 tablespoons oil or bacon fat for cooking
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 3 tablespoons butter

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*F.  Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat, and brown the pork chops on one side, for about 2 minutes.  Flip and brown the other side, another 2 minutes.
2. Transfer the chops to a foil-lined baking sheet or large, wide baking dish (so they aren’t crowded or touching each other.)  Roast in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 140*F on a thermometer, about 15 minutes, turning them over halfway through cooking time.  Remove from the oven, place on a platter, and cover with aluminum foil. Let the chops rest for about 5 minutes, and check to make sure the internal temperature has reached 150*F.
3. While the chops are in the oven, add the shallot to the skillet you cooked the pork chops in, and cook over medium heat until softened, about 30 seconds (about 2 minutes if you are using an onion.)
4. Increase the heat and add the broth, stirring to scrape up any bits stuck to the pan.  Add the lemon juice and capers and cook until the sauce reduces to about 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes.
5. Off the heat, whisk the butter into the sauce, and pour over the pork chops.

 Grades:

Megan - B (These were tasty, but like I said, made me wish I was eating chicken.  I also wish the sauce was thicker because mine was pretty runny.)

Noelle - C (It was hard to tell if Noelle didn't like this that much or if she just wasn't tat hungry.  Either way, she ate some of it, but not too much.)