8 Ways to Sunday

“Good evening, and welcome to another edition of The Half-Assed Gourmet, with your host Adam Messinger…”

A while back I picked up some Newman’s Own Light Honey Mustard dressing on a whim. I decided I didn’t like it much on salad, but it might taste okay on chicken or pork. Tonight I had a chance to put that to the test with some baked pork chops, and I’m pretty happy with the results.

To do this yourself, just lay out your chops in a pan per usual and douse them with enough dressing to get them covered. Roll them over a time or two to get both sides coated, add a bit of water to the pan, and bake. I cooked mine for about 50 minutes at 350° F; your mileage may vary depending on many chops you’re cooking, how thick they’re cut, etc.

The end result was satisfyingly tasty, but a little sweet for my taste. I may try adding some more spice to it next time. Mixing the dressing with some white wine for a marinade might be worth a shot, too.

I wouldn’t think that anyone would actually need this how-to guide on chopping vegetables, but my mother has cut herself enough times that I know better.

(Props: Lifehacker)

Update, 11/06/2007

The link above now goes to a promotional website for the book Knife Skills Illustrated: a User’s Guide, written by the same guy who wrote the 2005 how-to article. The original article is no longer available.

Thanks to Alex for cluing me into this with his comment (below).

Last week I found myself in possession of 1¼ lb. of catfish, bored with the two ways I knew how to cook it, and with a limited set of ingredients to work with. I sat down with my trusty copy of Copernic Agent and searched for recipes containing the ingredients I had on hand, and improvised something that was a rough combination of these two Meals.com offerings.

It came out much better than I’d expected, so Friday night I gave it another spin and perfected it. If you have a taste for spicy food, perhaps you’ll find this to your liking.

Ingredients

• 1 to 1¼ lb. catfish fillets, washed and patted dry
• 2 tsp. prepared spicy brown mustard
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• ½ tsp. McCormick Peppercorn Medley (This was supposed to be white pepper, but I didn’t have any. Peppercorn Medley is a roughly equal mixture of black, white, green, and pink peppercorns with coriander and allspice.)
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. onion powder
• ¼ tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 2-3 tbsp. butter or substitute (I used Smart Balance)

Directions

In a shallow dish, mix the seasonings with the olive oil into a grainy, gooey paste. Be sure to get it mixed up thoroughly; it should have a fairly uniform red-orange color when you’re done. Roll the fillets in the mixture, getting them well coated with spices. Now melt some butter in a skillet and fry the fish four to five minutes on each side, or until if flakes easily with a fork. Serves 2-3 people.

I use 90,000 unit cayenne pepper in this recipe, a habit I got from my mother. You can’t get this strength of pepper at a regular grocery store, at least not where I live. I get mine at Whole Foods in Wichita, about 50 miles from here. I’m not sure how this recipe will come off with the weak-ass milder pepper most people use, but as prepared with my ingredients it provides just the right mixture of mouth-scorching heat and piquant spice with rich, buttery undertones. Very yummy indeed.

This is my first original recipe. If you try it out, be sure and let me know what you think in the comments!