Spicy Carbonara

I threw together this dish after going through the fridge and pulling out everything we needed to use before it went bad. I call it a Spicy Carbonara. It features linguine, red peppers, chicken, chili oil, red onions, garlic and half and half.



I chopped up the chicken and cooked it for about 5-7 minutes in a small bit of olive oil, sprinkling it with hot chili oil and chipotle bouillon. I then put in half of a red onion, half a red pepper and some minced garlic. After about 3 minutes, I stirred in half and half and chicken bouillon. I thickened it with a bit of cornstarch and let it boil until the consistency was just right. I then dumped it over my cooked linguine. Before serving I sprinkled cracked black pepper and bits of bacon over the top.

This was a successful experiment with a good kick! We are definitely going to make this again. :)

Asian Inspirations

This past weekend I decided to pull out the ol' Asian guns and really impress some friends that were coming over for dinner. I chose to try new recipes and overall I was quite pleased with the results. I created Pork Lettuce Wraps, Orange Chicken and Chicken Lo Mein served with Basmati Rice (I know it's not Chinese, but I love the flavor!). The Lo Mein was not bad, but not quite on par with what I was looking for so I won't post about that here. However, the rest of the food was divine!

I made the lettuce wrap filling out of ground pork, seasoned with chili oil, onions, garlic, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. I served it with fresh crisp lettuce leaves for the perfect texture and flavor. Just writing this makes my mouth water!



The orange chicken was marinated and breaded and served in an orange sauce made from orange zest and juice. I mixed in some stir fry veggies for a yummy healthy addition.



Overall the dinner was an absolute success! I will keep working on the Lo Mein recipe until I get it just right. Oh, and dessert was a warm chocolate cake with homemade chocolate icing. Yeah, I think that pretty much cinches up my gourmet chef title. ;)

Jägerschnitzel - Schnitzel with Noodles

These are a few of my favorite things...

I cooked up an awesome German dinner for my hungry German husband this week that was really tasty! I turned boring old pork chops into schnitzel and served it up with noodles and an amazing bacon mushroom sauce.

For those of you who don't know what schnitzel is, it's just German for cutlet (and no, it has absolutely nothing to do with sausages). It can be made of veal, pork, chicken, or really whatever you want. The version I made is called Jägerschnitzel (pronounced Yay-grr-shnitz-el) which means "Hunter Cutlet" and is so named because of the mushroom gravy. Other types of schnitzel include the famous Wienerschnitzel (Vee-ner) or "Viennese Schnitzel" that is breaded and served plain with a slice of lemon, and Zigeunerschnitzel (Tzi-goy-ner) or "Gypsy Schnitzel" that is served with a spicy paprika and red bell pepper sauce, (which I am going to have to make next, because it sounds delicious!).

I've decided to share the love and post my improved directions below. You are welcome! :)



Ingredients:

6 pork chops
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons mustard
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1/2 diced yellow onion, approximately 1/2 cup
1 pkg mushroom soup mix (I used a German variation featuring chanterelle mushrooms)
2 teaspoons Maggi or Worcestershire sauce (I recommend Maggi for all gravies)
Vegetable oil, for frying
2 cups half and half
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions:

Pound pork chops between sheets of plastic wrap or wax paper to 1/4-inch thickness. In a shallow medium bowl, mix together 3/4 cup flour with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. In another shallow medium bowl, combine egg, milk and mustard. Put the bread crumbs in a third medium shallow bowl. Dredge pork slices first in flour, then in egg wash, and finally in crumbs. This works best if you do it like Alton Brown and have a dry hand and a wet hand. Let set on a baking sheet fitted with a cooling rack for 5 minutes.

In a medium saute pan over medium heat cook the bacon and onions until crispy. Pour half and half into a small saute pan and mix the soup mix into it. Add maggi, bacon & onions, and season with a couple of shakes of salt, parsley and pepper. Depending on your desired thickness, you may want to add more/less half and half. Keep warm.

Heat 1/4-inch oil in thick saute pan. Once heated, add pork and cook evenly on both sides, about 3-5 minutes for the first side, 3-4 minutes for the second. Remove to platter when done. To serve, cover pork with sauce. Either egg noodles or mashed potatoes would be an excellent addition to this dinner.