Sunday Dinner 1/27/13 - Piccata!

1/27/13

Pork piccata
Spaghetti with lemon cream sauce
Insalata Suzanne

No pictures today! My computer died last week and I'm waiting for a replacement, actually I'm getting an upgrade for the first time in 8 years!

Pork Piccata

3lbs center cut pork loin, sliced thinly and pounded flat
1 white onion, diced
4 cloves garlic
High quality olive oil
1 cup sherry
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup capers
Fresh Italian parsley, chopped roughly
Salt and pepper
flour for dredging
butter for frying

At the grocery store I picked out a 3 pound center cut pork loin roast and asked the butcher to cut it in to 1/2 inch chops and run it through the cube machine twice. The cube machine is an apparatus that tenderizes the meat by running it through two gear-like blades, and the result is often the famous "cube steak." Most of the time these steaks come from tough cuts of meat and are therefore run through the machine several times. With small chops or a more delicate cut of meat one or two times through is more than satisfactory, and it saves you the trouble of pounding the meat flat at home.
First mix some all purpose flour with salt and pepper to dredge the chops in.  Next heat a mixture of olive oil and butter in a frying pan. Dredge the chops one by one and fry, then remove from heat and cover to keep warm. Once all of the meat is cooked scrape out any burned bits of food from the pan, but try to leave anything brown - that will enhance the flavor of the piccata sauce. I added a bit more olive oil for frying, then added the diced onion and garlic. That will deglaze the pan, and allow the onion to fry for 5-10 minutes. Next add the wine and allow to reduce down for an additional 5-10 minutes. After the contents of the pan has achieved a creamy consistency add the lemon juice, salt and pepper, chopped parsley and capers. Cook briefly, about 5 minutes, cover and remove from heat.

Spaghetti with lemon cream sauce
1 lb spaghetti
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup high quality olive oil
1/2 cup heavy cream
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

I love this sauce, it is the second time I have made it this year. So easy!

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest and set aside while pasta is cooking. Grate cheese and add salt and pepper. Once pasta is done cooking, drain and add back in to pot. Next add the liquid mixture, cheese, and heavy cream in to the pot and mix very well with the pasta. Allow to sit, covered for a few minutes to allow sauce to thicken and stick to pasta. If sauce is too thin, you can always reserve a bit of the pasta cooking water to add back in, the starch will thicken nicely.

Insalata Suzanna

Mixed greens
Hot house tomato, sliced
red wine vinegar
high quality olive oil
salt and pepper
shaved parmigiano reggiano

A throwback! Louisville favorite. Just a plain mixed green salad :)