Dinner and a Movie for One, Please

So, tonight was night #4 of eating dinner by myself and since last night's semi-disaster with a box of mac+cheese; I decided I was making a fabulous dinner for 1! I had defrosted a pork chop and searched for something fun to do with it. On a fellow knottie's blog I found Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops and I was sold! We had bought center cut pork chops that were almost 1 1/2-2 inches thick so I cut it the long ways down the middle and had 2 much thinner pieces that didn't take long to cook at all. I cooked a box of Parmesan noodles and dinner was served while watching My Best Friend's Wedding starring the great Julia Roberts!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

2 large eggs
1 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan
4 (1/2 to 3/4-inch thick) center-cut pork loin chops (each about 10 to 12 ounces)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (I used onion salt instead of just salt)
6 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon wedges, for serving (I skipped this)

Ingredients
Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the bread crumbs in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate. Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the eggs, then coat completely with the bread crumbs, patting to adhere.

Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops, in batches if necessary, and cook until golden brown and the center reaches 150 degrees, about 6 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to plates and serve with lemon wedges.

Note: Since I was only cooked for 1 I pretty much halved the ingredients list and it worked out perfect.

Husband Rating: N/A He was not here to enjoy my fabulous dinner and unfortunately for him I didn't save him any. I will have to cook them for him another night!

Wife Rating: A+ I love them.

Recipe from: Giada De Laurentiis
Photo from my kitchen :)

Crockpot Pulled Pork

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon Tabasco or similar hot pepper sauce
• 3 to 4 pounds pork shoulder roast, boneless, trimmed, tied
• few dashes liquid smoke, if desired
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 8 hamburger buns heated

PREPARATION:
In a large non-metallic bowl, combine cider vinegar, chopped onion, Worcestershire sauce, and hot pepper sauce. Add the pork roast, cover, and marinate in refrigerator for at 6 to 10 hours. Turn occasionally to keep roast coated with marinade.

Remove the pork from the marinade, scraping the onion back into the marinade. Lightly pat the roast dry with paper towels. Pour the marinade into a slow cooker and add the Liquid Smoke. Place a slow cooker meat rack or ring of foil in the slow cooker.

Combine the sugar, salt, paprika, and pepper in a cup. Rub the pork roast with the seasoning mixture and place on the rack in crockpot.

Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or until very tender. Transfer the pork to a cutting board; cover with foil to keep warm.

Skim the fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Stir in the ketchup; pour into a bowl. Using 2 forks, pull the pork apart into shreds, or chop the pork into small pieces. Serve the pork on warm split buns with coleslaw, beans, or your choice of side dishes. Serve the sauce separately.
Makes 8 to 10 sandwiches.

Notes: We will probably try a pork roast next time. We couldn't find a boneless shoulder so it was like an 8-9 lb pork shoulder. After 5 hours we turned it up to high and cooked for another 2 1/2 hours. We also missed the marinating part of the directions so we ended up adding more BBQ sauce, Tabasco sauce, salt, pepper and some of the juice from the crock pot after it was shredded for more flavor. We didn't use the liquid smoke, paprika or ketchup (they weren't in the pantry!).

Husband's Plate: Rating: A He preferred his as a sandwich.

Wife's Plate: Rating: A It was a nice variety to our typical chicken recipes. I served mine over egg noodles (the less messy approach) and it was really good.