Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Skillet supper: pineapple pork chops

Tonight's Menu
  • skillet pork chops w/onion and pineapple
  • steamed rice
  • steamed broccoli
I love stir-fried pork and pineapple but I suck at stir-fries in general. No matter how I cook the meat -- in small batches, at high temperature, etc. -- it gets tough. I had some really nice, thick, boneless pork chops tonight and I was dying for some stir-fry, but it would have been a sin to ruin them with my lackluster cooking skills.

So instead, I left the chops whole and browned them in a skillet. I tossed in a chopped (into wedges) sweet yellow onion and a big can of pineapple chunks (which I had drained, reserving the juice). I added a little bit of pineapple juice to the pan, brought it to a boil, then covered the pan and turned it to low for about 20 minutes. While the chops were simmering and the veggies and rice were cooking in the microwave, I put the rest of the reserved pineapple juice into a bowl. I whisked in some ketchup and mirin (a sweet rice cooking wine) along with a little bit of worcestershire sauce (because DH and the girl are allergic to soy). Then, when the chops were done, I removed them from the pan and turned it up to high. I whisked some cornstarch into the juice/ketchup mixture and added it to the juice and whatnot in the pan. I stirred it until the sauce had thickened, then added the chops back in and covered them with the sauce.

This was really good considering I totally winged it. The chops stayed moist and juicy, the onion was perfectly tender (but not mushy), and the sauce was delicious. I'll definitely make this again. And when I do, I'll try to pay attention to the quantity of ingredients so I can give y'all an actual recipe!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I suck at stir fry too. So I never, ever do it any more. Here's the reason why -- our stoves don't get hot enough. It's not you : it's your lack of a Viking stove. Once had a lover with a Viking stove (granted, only old guys can afford them) and I could stir fry like a motherfucker (fatherfucker?) on that stove. I mean it. So Pad Thai at home sucks, stir fry sucks -- don't blame yourself.

Meal sounds great.

celestial opus said...

I was just lamenting the fact that I forgot to take pork loins out of the freezer this morning. Thanks for rubbing salt in the wound!

But we should get together for stir frys. I'm really good at cooking the meat and veggies, but always mess it up with the sauce. I haven't found a bought sauce I like, and everytime I try to wing it it just sucks. Really sucks.