Mushroom Bolengese

The recipe calls for ground pork, although you could use ground turkey, chicken or even beef.  The ground pork was really good with the two different mushroom types.

 Ingredients:

*1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
*1 Cup boiling water
*1 Tbsp olive oil
*2 1/2 cups chopped onion
*3/4 teas kosher salt, divided
*1/2 teas freshly ground black pepper, divided
*1/2 pound ground pork
*8 cups finely chopped cremini mushrooms (about 1 1/2 pounds)
*1 Tbsp minced garlic
*2 Tbsp tomato paste
*1/2 cup white wine
*1 (14oz) can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
*1/4 cup whole milk
*10 oz uncooked whole wheat pasta
*1 1/2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
*1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Combine porcini mushrooms and boiling water in a bowl; cover and let stand 20 minutes or until soft.  Drain porchini's in a colander lined with a paper towel or cloth over a bowl, reserve liquid.  Rinse and chop the porchini mushrooms.

2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven over med-high heat.  Add onion, 1/2 teas salt, 1/4 teas pepper, and pork; cook 10 minutes or until pork is browned, stirring to crumble pork.  Add cremini mushrooms, garlic, remaining 1/4 salt and pepper; cook 15 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. 

3. Add porchini mushrooms, cook 1 minutes.  Add tomato paste; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add reserved porcini liquid and wine; cook 1 minute, scraping pan to loosen browned bits.  Add tomatoes; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes as necessary.  Stir in milk; cook 2 minutes.

4.  Cook pasta according to package directions, adding 1 Tbsp salt to cooking water.  Drain, toss pasta with sauce; top with cheese and parsley.

Pork Chops in Country Onion Gravy

Recipe Courtsey of:  Pillsbury Fast and Healthy Cookbook    

Since last night, I abandoned the breaded pork cutlet recipe I moved the pork over to tonights dinner. 

I was honored to have recently received my mother-in-laws cookbooks.  She had passed away just this past February, so with missing her so much I was eager to flip through one of them and find a recipe she cooked before.  The best part about getting roughly 30 cookbooks from her were the handwritten notes she made about the recipes she cooked.  It was such an awesome feeling to see her handwriting on this recipe I was about to cook for dinner and know that she probably had touched that very spot I was touching on the page not long before she passed.  ::Sigh:: Missing someone so much is hard knowing you'll never get to talk, see or touch them again.

So here is this wonderful recipe that my wonderful mother-in-law wrote "very good" about in her cookbook.

Ingredients:

*4 (4oz) boneless pork loin chops

*2 cups chopped onions

*1 cup beef broth

*1/8 teas pepper

*1/2 cup skim milk

*2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Directions:

*Generously spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat over high heat until hot.  Add pork chops; reduce heat to medium-high.  Cook 3 minutes.  Turn pork; cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes or until browned.  Remove pork from skillet; cover to keep warm.

*Reduce heat to medium.  Add onions to same skillet; cook 3 minutes.  Add brother and pepper; mix well.  Add pork; spoon onion mixture over pork.  Cover tightly; simmer 12 minutes or until pork is no longer pink in center.

*In small bowl, combine milk and flour; blend well.  Add to skillet; cook and stir 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened.

Weight Watchers: 4 pts.

*I also served this with broccoli, and brown rice for an additional 3 pts, broccoli is 0 pts.

Breaded Pork Cutlets

Ingredients:

*4 spray(s) cooking spray
*1 pound(s) lean boneless pork chop, four 4 oz chops
*1/2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
*3/4 tsp table salt, or to taste
*1/2 tsp black pepper, or to taste
*1 large egg(s)
*3 Tbsp fat-free skim milk
*1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard, or to taste
*1/2 cup(s) dried bread crumbs, panko-variety (see note)
*1/2 medium lemon(s), cut into 4 wedges

Directions:

*Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a nonstick baking sheet with cooking spray.

*Place pork chops between 2 sheets of waxed paper; pound to 1/4-inch thickness (to watch a video of this technique, click here).

*On a plate, combine flour, salt and pepper. Beat egg in a shallow bowl; stir in milk and mustard. Place panko on a plate.

*Dip chops, one at a time, in flour mixture to lightly dust both sides; shake off excess. Dip each chop in egg batter and then lightly coat both sides with panko. Place on prepared baking sheet; lightly coat with cooking spray.

*Bake for 8 minutes; flip and bake until cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes more. (Coat with cooking spray and broil for a minute or two if you like the coating extra crisp.) Serve with lemon wedges.

Yields 1 chop per serving.
Weight Watchers: 6 pts.