Pan Fried Pork Chops in Chardonnay Sauce

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Pan Fried Pork Chops in Chardonnay Sauce 

Pork Chops in Chardonnay Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 medium Pork chops with the bone
• 1 measuring cup or 275 grams Chardonnay
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 knorr cube
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons Worstershire sauce

Let's chat about pork chops. Pork Chops  are white meat that needs extra attention when cooking because you can easily  burn it. When choosing pork chops choose the ones with the bone, they are juicier when they are cooked. Pairing Pork  Chops with Chardonnay will jazz up your  dinner.This is a restaurant recipe that was given to me for the good of the blog. I tried it and the outcome was mouthwatering. In the original recipe it calls for white wine but I chose Chardonnay instead.  Another great recipe from my kitchen to yours! 

First, add salt and pepper to your pork chops on both  sides. Then dredge them in flour, pat well and set aside.

Secondly, add your olive oil in your skillet let it sizzle on high heat, then lower your  heat add your pork chops. Cook on both sides until they have a golden brown color. Remove from skillet and set aside again.

Thirdly, in the same skillet add you knorr cube and grated lemon rind saute for  about two minutes or until knorr cube has been dissolved. Place your pork chops back in the skillet add your Chardonnay sauce, cook on medium heat, cook for about minutes add you Chardonnay and let it cook until it starts to almost simmer add your Westershire sauce and allow it to simmer for a few minutes. Your juicy pork chops are ready,  Serve with mash potatoes add a tad bit of the sauce from the  sauce you made and your taste buds will be jiving!  Kale Orexi!



                           

Sauteed Meat a.k.a Sofrito - a Corfiot Specialty!

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Sauteed Meat a.k.a Sofrito

If you have ever visited Corfu then chances are you have tried this wonderful, delicious traditional recipe, Sofrito, an acclaimed dish and very well known not only to locals  but to all travelers who have visited this breathtaking island! Sofrito  has been a part of the Corfiot cuisine since the Venetian times. Cooking ways vary but the basic ingredient is garlic, wine and vinegar which gives the meat its piquant flavor. 

Sauteed Meat a.k.a Sofrito

Ingredients

• 2.2 pounds beef fillet or veal 
• 8 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 3-4 tablespoons parsley  ( finely chopped) 
• 1 cup white wine
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 1 cube beef knorr
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• salt & pepper

 pan

Take your slices of meat add salt and pepper dredge it in flour, pat off the excess flour. 

Fry it on medium heat until golden brown. The flour that will fall off into the pan will be the basis for the sauce.

After you have fried it place on a platter ( make sure you place paper towels so all the oil could drain out.) Set your meat aside so you can begin on your sauce. Now in your pan add garlic, parsley, you can also add about 1 tablespoon of flour. Saute for few minutes, don't burn your garlic. Once you have sauteed your ingredients add two glasses of white wine, you can also use red( but this makes it a heavier dish) Also, add a bit of vinegar ( about 1 shot glass), scrape the flour from the pan mix all ingredients add 1 cup of water when it starts to boil add you knorr beef cube( I don't like to use beef cube in this recipe) some people use it. Add you meat and cook until it's tender. A small tip you can also add mustard I also omitted this, it's not traditional if we use mustard. 

You can serve it with, baked potatoes, mash potatoes, or rice with a side of string beans. Serve with a glass of wine and KALE OREXI!!!!  

Grape Pudding a.k.a Moustalevria

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                                                  Grape must pudding a.k.a Moustalevria

It's grape harvest time in my part of the world (Greece) in a little village called Zygos and grape harvest is called Trygos.  Once you have harvested your grapes you process them and make grape must, this the  the first step of wine making.  In Greek must is called moustos, Must has many uses in the Meditteranean cuisine, petimezei ( grape syrup) similiar to molasses, pies, grape must cookies ( moustokouloura) and the most famous, Moustalevria, a pudding made from the grape must, using alevri (flour). My  recipe of moustalevria is organic and gourmet, this is a recipe that dates back to Byzantine times, grape must was a necssary ingredient in all their sweets. 

Our organic grapevine

My grape must, is straight from my father -in - laws grapevine and onto our table. Moustalevria is made in many ways but I chose the most easiest and traditional way.

TIP:  You have to use the grape must immediately before fermentation begins, if you use it after two days you will get a sweet and sour taste.

Grape pudding ak.a Moustalevria

Ingredients

• 7 cups grape must
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ashes
• 1/3 cup crushed walnuts
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Collect your grape must and place it in a container, leave overnight so it can settle.

The next day take a colander, line it with a cheesecloth or tulle.  Cheese cloth works better but I didn't have one this time. Place it inside the colander and drain your grape must, place in a pot and boil on high until it's half of what you original had. Make sure you add your wood ashes while the grape must is boiling ( in a cheese cloth). The ashes purify the grape must. 

When done boiling drain again using a cheesecloth,  I drained iτ twice allowing it to sit for about an hour each time. You can also allow it to settle over night and drain the following day. Return to heat on medium, add your flour slowly and stir with a whisk  when the pudding thickens remove from heat and place in bowls. 

TIPS: 1) Don't use charcoal ashes ( Very Dangerous) !  Some people use bread instead of ashes, I stick to olive wood ashes, I was informed by  Panagiotes Koutelidakes, an oenologist that you can also use grapevine ashes. He  also informed that wood ashes are rich in potassium, which neutralizes the musts's acidity, and also helod with the the thickening of the pudding. (  USE nothing else just clean wood or grape vine ashes, they are also high in potassium)  I prefer to use olive wood. When you are burning wood it should be clean wood and just wood,  no other materials like napkins, newspaper logs, fake firelogs etc.)   and only use small twigs to start a fire not petroleum or any other substances because the ashes will go into your pudding. 

2) You might not use up all the flour so don't worry if  you have flour left over.

7 cups of grape must,  makes about 4 small bowls.  Your Moustalevria is ready! Add crushed walnuts,cinnamon and serve.

KALE OREXI!! 

Custard Pie a.k.a Bougatsa

Bougatsa another Greek term, it's roots lie in Konstantinople ( Byzantine times) when it was still Greek. We're talking about 1453 B.C many, many , many years ago. Byzantines were well known in making pies and desserts baked in pans. Bougatsa was one of their famous pies. Even after the city was captured by the Turks the bougatsa lived on.

Bougatsa - means either cheese filled or  sweet filled, closed and tucked inside the phyllo or dough. 

In Konstatinople it was referred  " Bugatsa", by the turks and the Greeks called it "Bogatsa" or "Pogatsa". Whatever they called it thank God for its invention, it is finger licking delicious !!! 

This post contains affiliated links and I will get compensated when you buy through my links.

Ingredients

• 1 package Thin Phyllo  ( I prefer the thin phyllo over the thick one) 
• 4 measuring cups milk  ( I used a bit more milk I like it thick) 
• 1 measuring cup sugar
• 1 measuring cup semolina (This is the  brand I used) 
• 3- 4 tablespoons margarine ( I used butter) it's creamier
• *1 teaspoon McCormick vanilla extract 

                                                         

If you have a Greek deli next to you, buy the vanilla viles you see in the picture below, they make the bougatsa tangier,if not use McCormick'c vanilla extract, works just as well.

Add all your ingredients in the pot set on high and mix. If it doesn't thicken just add a  bit more semolina.  Add the butter when it thickens.

When your sweet filling is ready. Prepare your phyllo sheets and pan. I prefer the thin sheets rather to the thick phyllo. I feel it takes away the taste from the sweet filling.

Use a brush to spread the melted butter in the pan, I prefer to use my daughter's painting brush. Separate your phyllo in two even piles. Brush your pan with butter and each phyllo sheet separately.

Place each sheet of phyllo in the pan.

Add your sweet filling.

The overflapping phyllo sheets fold them inwards to the pan.

Add the remaining sheets, don't forget to butter each phyllo.

Tuck your overlapping sheets underneath the pie. Butter the top phyllo.

Carve shapes before you bake it. Makes the cutting easier after it has been baked.

Bake for about 1/2 hour or until golden brown. Allow it to cool for another 1/2 hour  and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and cinnamon

KALE OREXI !!! Another recipe from my kitchen to yours ! 

Simple Home Fries

                                                               Simple Home Fries

                                                                     

I was 15 when I started working at my dad's little lunchonette in a small place called A & S  Mott Ave.FarRockaway, more than just a walk down memory lane, it was a bond with the community. My first introduction in business, I thank him for all his lessons. The sound of the grill cooking up a storm, bacon, eggs, pancakes , home fries, the sounds and smiles of our customers awaiting their favorite homefries. I don't know  what it was the oil, the onions or the potatoes, our breakfast special was from 6 to 11, by 9 o'clock we never had any homefries left. Here's my simple recipe of home fries.

Home Fries

Ingredients

• 4 large potatoes ( boiled and cut)
• 1 large onion
• 1/3 cup of oil
• salt & pepper to taste
• paprika or red hot pepper
• hot tobasco sauce 

First,  boil your potatoes and drain ( add salt while boiling)

Secondly, cut them into small pieces in a skillet

Thirdly, cut your onion in strips on top of your potatoes

Fourthly,add your olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika

And lastly, place on your stove cook on high for about 10 - 15 minutes

and serve with scrambled or sunnyside up eggs and fried bacon !

* Our customers used to add tobasco sauce over their homefries.

Baked Pasta with Chopmeat A.K.A Pastichio ( A Greek Dish )

You can't get more Greek than this,well you can but just as a matter of saying. Waking up on Sunday,  the lingering scent of this beautiful dish just tickled our noses and instead of toast, we would say, is it ready ??? My mom being Greek, would always get up before everyone and prepare this beautiful dish, even if we went out to lunch she would still cook  therefore when we would come back from our outing we would have something to eat. She was just being Greek. Pastichio was not only a Sunday dish, it was a holiday dish, Christmas time, Birthdays, namedays, barbecues etc. Any  holiday would be accompanied by Pastichio. I learned to make it just like my mom and now I'm serving it from my table to yours. It takes about 3 hours to make but you will have it for two days, if it's possible .

Let's start wit the ingredients:

Red Sauce

2 pounds chopmeat

1 medium onion or three small ones

1 medium tomato

2 cloves of garlic

1 whole nutmeg or  1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

4 whole cloves or 1/3 teaspoon of ground cloves

1/2  teaspoon of cinnamon

1/3 cup of olive oil

oregano, salt and pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Pasta Pennes or if your have access to a Greek store ask for Special Pastichio Spaghetti I still prefer Penne Pasta

1 egg

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons of  butter

Cream or Pudding what ever wording you prefer

8 cups of milk

1 evaporated small can of milk

1 whole nutmeg or black pepper

2 whole eggs

1 stick of sweet butter

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Let's begin with the red sauce:

 

Chop up your onions,tomato and garlic cloves. Place them in your skillet add your olive oil, ( if you like olive oil you can add more )  1/2 teaspoon of oregano and a dash of salt and pepper then saute for about 10 min. then add your chopmeat, saute for about 15 minutes or until brown. Cover chopmeat with water let cook for about 1 hour on high. Once it's ready to thicken add your tomato paste, grind nutmeg, add whole cloves, cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste and a dash of oregano. When it's ready set aside for later use.

Next we prepare our cream:

Place 8 cold cups of milk in a pot

for each cup we need 2 tablespoons of flour ( all purpose flour)

so 8 cups x 2 tablespoons = 16 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of milk should be the evaporated milk ( tastes a lot better)

  

Before placing on stove add flower and stir very well with a whisk

  

Once the flour has dissolved completely place on stove on high and keep stirring until it thickens into a cream, if the flour hasn't dissolved completely before placing on stove it will crumble up into tiny balls and your cream will not come out good. Make sure it has dissolved completely !!!!  When the cream is read add the whole stick of butter and stir, then add a whole beaten egg and stir, then ( usually) I add at the tip of my teaspoon black pepper, if your prefer nutmeg you can grind nutmeg into your cream. Stir very well  and set aside.

Your cream is ready when it can form a somewhat ball shape when placed in a plate I added red sauce so you can see what I mean.

Pasta time

Cook as per package add salt for taste while boiling

I didn't have Penne Pasta so I used these, they're very  close

Once they are ready drain and place in a pot.

Add 1/2 stick of regular butter

3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon of butter

1 whole egg and mix all ingredients together.

Now get your pan, make sure you butter your pan very well.

Add your first layer of pasta make sure you're not able to see the bottom of the pan

Then add your chopmeat sauce, don't use it all set aside about 4 big salad spoons, this will be our topping when we serve the Pastichio.

Then add your final layer of pasta

Then your final layer, the cream

When your are done, beat 1 egg and spread on top of your Pastichio this gives it color. Bake for 45 minutes  180 celsius or 350 Fahrenheit.

This is how it should look when it's ready. Before serving set aside for 1/2 hour or else you will not be able to cut proper pieces.

While this is cooling you make your sauce for the topping

     

Take your leftover sauce place it in a small pot, add two cups of water,2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon olive oil, cinnamon,cloves, oregano,salt and pepper to taste. Let it boil until it thickens, when it's almost ready to thicken simmer it on medium heat. Place in a small bowl, when you are ready to serve your Pastichio. On top of your piece you can add a teaspoon of parmesan cheese. I prefer to grind with my fork Feta Cheese. I just love feta.

Another dish from my table to yours !! And by the way, if you have kids lots of licking and eating before everything goes into the dishwasher and sink !! ;)

One final tip and most important: When baking this dish, add a bigger pan with water, than the one your are baking with, in the oven, underneath the Pastichio, because it will drip therefore this way, the juices will drip into the pan with water.

Enjoy this Sunday dish !!!!