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This is ridiculously quick and easy and not too bad in the flavour department!

Since quitting my job, I often have lunch at home with my ma and we take turns to cook. It’s usually a bit of a quick, whatever’s in the fridge, gotta get rid of leftovers affair, but sometimes we’ll do something a bit nicer just for the two of us, while the rest of the family are gone!

Now, I’d gone shopping a few days earlier and picked up a pair of organic pork cutlets with the intention of making something a bit special. I had a spectacular recipe for braised cutlets with caramelized onions that I’d had my eye on for awhile, but the herbs involved meant that my family would probably not be too keen on it and so I wasn’t prepared to make enough for the family just to have it dumped, like so many other dishes that I’ve dried. The memory of the panful of paella that nobody but I ate still burns strongly in my mind

The day that I’d set aside to give these a try, ma had gone to Springvale to buy a box of chinese cabbage (also known as napa cabbage) as we needed to replenish our kimchi supplies since they’d run a bit low, and knowing that she’d be awhile, I asked her to give me a call about an hour before she got home so that I could get lunch started and it’d be ready by the time she arrived. As I studied at my desk, I kept an eye on the phone and the time. 1pm passed. 2pm passed. 3pm passed, and by this stage my stomach was starting to eat itself, but I’d promised that I’d make lunch for her and I wanted it to be just cooked as reheated thick cuts of meat are never quite as good as when just cooked. By 4pm I was going a bit nuts, and as I picked up the phone to call her and ask where she was, she came thumping through the door, pushing the 20kg box of cabbage!

This is hardly a recipe as it was just whipped together in a few minutes from sheer necessity, but it tasted so good that I’ll share it with you anyway

“What on earth took you so long?!”

“Ahhhh, don’t ask!” she replied. “I’m starving, where’s lunch?”

As she asked this question, my eyes just about popped straight out of my head! “I told you to call me about an hour before you got home so I could start it! I haven’t cooked it yet because I’ve been waiting for you!”

My mother sniffed. “So what’s stopping you from starting it now??”

BUH?!

Obviously, with both our stomachs a-rumbling, I had to fix something up quick as there was no way she was going to wait an hour for me to make the braised cutlets, so I decided to just do a quick pan fry and make some gravy and to serve them with the selection of veggies already in our fridge. Thankfully the pork cutlets that I’d picked up were of organic origins, and the thing that had impressed me when I purchased them was their beautiful colour and texture, as well as a lack of any ‘porky’ smell. It’s true when they say that good quality produce doesn’t need much done to it in order to appreciate it, as though I hardly did anything to these cutlets, they tasted just divine!

This is a quick and super tasty meal to make that shouldn’t take you any longer than about 20 minutes from start to finish. Definitely not gourmet, but a stomach-satisfying dish nonetheless

When cooking meat in any way that isn’t braising, please don’t overcook it! You can see that these cutlets are still pale pink inside, retaining their lovely juiciness!

Pan-fried pork cutlets with caramelized onion gravy

Ingredients (to serve 4)
4 pork cutlets, trimmed of fat
4 medium-sized onions, sliced into 5mm wide slices
50g butter
4 tbsp cream
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste

Garden Salad
Lettuce leaves with the thick white core removed
Vine-ripened tomatoes
Lebanese cucumber (or any other thin skinned sweet variety)
Juice from 1/2 lemon

1. Season the pork cutlets with a little salt and pepper, then heat a little olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the cutlets and fry for about 2 minutes on each side, till the outside is brown and slightly crunchy but the meat still has some give when pressed. Remove from pan and leave on a plate to rest.

2. Reduce heat to low and melt butter, then add onions and fry till they’re gorgeously brown and caramelized. Add 1 tbsp flour and cook thoroughly cook through, then add chicken stock and cream and stir through. Leave to simmer for about 5 minutes, or till mixture has reduced and is thick and creamy. Add pepper to taste.

3. Shred the lettuce with your hands, then add sliced cucumber and tomatoes. Pour over lemon juice, toss and serve next to the cutlets topped with gravy.

See what I mean by ridiculously easy? You really want to have fresh produce as this dish is all about the base natural flavours, trust me - you’ll see what I mean when you give it a try

Technorati Tags: pork, salad, meat, organic, recipe, lunch

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