Pork Stir-Fry

This is a less complicated dish than last time with quite a delicious sauce, if I do say so myself. I like doing stir fry when I have tons of fresh veggies in the house that are going to go bad soon, in this case there were only three, though. 

If you have never had greens mixed into stir-fry you are missing out. The spicy/sweet sauce with bitter greens is sort of magnificent.

Pork Stir Fry

Sauce:

1 c. unsalted stock

1/4 c. cornstarch

1 T thai chili paste (double for extra spicy)

1 T hoison

1 c soy sauce

Stir Fry:

1 lb cubed pork loin (or whatever meat you have on hand)

1 c sliced red pepper

1 c sliced onion

1 c kale

1 t minced garlic

3 T corn starch

TT salt and pepper

1/4 c vegetable oil

Serve with rice.

To make the sauce, combine the cornstarch and stock. Whisk together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Taste sauce. Add salt if necessary. Most Asian ingredients are pretty salty, so I rarely add any additional.

Heat pan on stove on high. Add vegetable oil when hot. This is important...the pan needs to be screaming hot, to the point where the oil is popping a little.

Dust pork with corn starch, salt, and pepper. Place in pan and sear on all sides, about 3 min. Add vegetables, cook for 1 minute. Add sauce. Let meat and vegetables cook in sauce until sauce is reduced, about 1 minute.

 Pre-sauce

Saucy

Serve over rice.

Pork Scallopini

Yesterday at the grocery store I bought a pork loin RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP. $1.99/ lb cheap. And cut it into a gazillion and four pork chops. OK, more like 20. So, I want to try my hand at this food blogging thing. If you guys hate it, tell me. If you love it, tell me. I don't really know how I feel about it, but, you know, I'll tell you. I have always wanted a separate section of my blog that you could click on for food blogging stuff. But, you know, motivation. So, I am going to blog every recipe I make with this pork loin. 

Pork Scallopini with braised collard greens and roasted fingerling potatoes

serves 2

2 Boneless Pork Chops

1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 head collard greens

5 strips thick cut bacon

2 cup stock

1 T apple cider vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes (omit if you don't like spicy)

1 tsp salt

1 T brown sugar

15 fingerling potatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 T olive oil

**I use pre-made finishing salts when I do this. Way more flavor. But, salt and pepper will do. I recommend Williams Sonoma if you are looking for good ones.

Put the potatoes in first. Toss them with salt and pepper and cook them about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. 

Next start braising the collard greens. Cut the bacon into thin strips about 1/4 inch by 1 inch. Cook the bacon until it is crispy and remove from the pan. Add the collard greens to the bacon grease. 

The collard greens will overflow the pan. I recommend using cast iron if you have it. But, I always recommend using cast iron.

Add 1 cup of the stock, apple cider vinegar, pepper flakes, and salt. Cook covered on medium heat until greens are wilted.

This is what they will look like when they are done. 

While greens are cooking, pound out the pork and get the flour ready. 

Before

After

Once greens are wilted, heat up on medium high olive oil, butter, canola oil...whatever fat you prefer to cook in. Dust pork with flour and add to hot pan. Add bacon and sugar to greens and take the potatoes out of the oven. They should be brown on the bottom.

Sear pork on each side until just brown. It will overcook fast...this should only take about 3 minutes total.

Remove pork from pan and add other cup of stock and a pinch of salt. Crank the stove. Scrape bottom of the pan with tongs or a spatula.

To plate, put the potatoes in a pile in the middle, leaning the pork up against the potatoes. Place greens on top of that.

Plating and stuff.

Grab the pan sauce and spoon it over the top of everything until a pool forms on the bottom of the plate.

TA DA

Total time: about 45 minutes. I also wrote this entire blog post (minus the addition of the pictures) in that 45 minutes, so there is a lot of down time. 

Because I had most of this stuff on hand...this cost under $5 for both of us. But, most people may not ALWAYS have bacon in the house!