Japanese-style Crispy Pork Chops

I am a huge fan of the Hunger Games books. I can go on and on about why I love them so much. They were crazily irresistible.

But after I finished all 3 books on my Kindle Fire, the Amazon store suggested that I buy this:

Urm, I'm not going to roast some random frog legs and shit in my apartment? And I am not hunting anything, ever?

Seriously people.

(Ok, I know it includes recipes inspired by meals served in The Capitol, but still.)

I don't know about you, but I usually just use something called Google to find recipes. And then I tweak the recipes to my liking.

For example, this was supposed to be a Japanese dish- deep fried pork cutlets. I didn't have bento boxes at home. I didn't have white rice. I didn't have Tonkatsu sauce or the ingredients to make Tonkatsu sauce from scratch. Oh, and I don't ever deep fry anything.

So. Here's what I did instead.

I tenderized the chops (very important step).

Then I prepared my breading station. It is important to make sure that the flour and panko crumbs are seasoned properly.

Here's the best part. I had some barbecue sauce left over from the summer. So into the pot it went!

Fusion at its finest.

Then I fried them on a pan and sliced them at an angle to make them look pretty. I also made some brown rice to go with it. Looks decent, right? So yeah, I totally did not buy the Hunger Games cookbook.

Japanese-style Crispy Pork Chops


4 pieces of boneless pork chops
1/2 cup white all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 tbsp paprika
1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper (less if you are sensitive to spicy food)
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
Good dash of ground black pepper
Prepared BBQ sauce
Olive oil

1. Tenderize pork chops with meat pounder.
2. You will need 3 plates to set up the breading station. The first plate should have all purpose flour mixed with kosher salt and black pepper. The second plate should have 2 eggs well beaten. The third plate should have the panko crumbs, paprika, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, kosher salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
3. Lightly season the pork chops with salt and pepper. Take one piece of pork chop, dip into the flour station first, then egg station and then the panko station. Repeat for all the pork chops.
4. Bring a frying pan to medium-high heat with good dash of olive oil. Fry the pork chops for about 4 minutes on each side, checking periodically to make sure the crumbs are not burning. If they are burning, turn down the heat.
Note: if you notice that the crumbs are turning white instead of golden brown, that means there's not enough oil on the pan. Add a little at a time to make sure there's enough oil to brown the chops.
5. In the meantime, add BBQ sauce to a small saucepan on medium heat. Add water if necessary. The key is to achieve a consistency as a dipping sauce. Once it starts bubbling, turn the heat to low to keep warm until ready to serve.
6. When pork chops are cooked through (they should be hard to the pinch instead of being limp and soft), put them on a chopping board and slice at an angle. Serve with BBQ sauce immediately.

Braised Short Ribs with Couscous

I kid you not, these short ribs were labelled as "chicken" in the Asian grocery store. I wish I took a picture of the packaging to show you! 

I know, they look funny and are not "short ribs" in the most American sense of the word, but hey, I figured if I braise them long enough, no one would care.

Plus, you really can't go wrong with the holy trio of veggies, half a bottle of wine and 2 cans of stewed tomatoes.

(note: the wine was opened for 5 days and I was not in the mood for sangria)

After 4 hours of braising, the meat was super tender and falling off the bones.

Of course, you are more than welcome to use normal looking ribs. I'm sure they will turn out just as flavorful and much more elegant than mine. 

ps- workout of the day included reptile burpees, side planks, jump lunges, knee ups, and a few sets at the thigh toning machine. I kind of just did whatever came to my mind.

Braised Short Ribs with Couscous 

Makes 3-4 servings

1 package of short ribs (about 8-9 pieces)

1/2 cup flour 

3 stalks celery, roughly chopped

2 big carrots, chopped into big chunks

1 large onion

1 cup Beef broth or water

1/2 bottle red wine

2 cans of stewed tomatoes 

4 cloves of garlic 

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

2 bay leaves 

1 cup couscous

1. Preheat oven to 300F.

2. Drench short ribs with flour. In a large skillet, brown all sides of the short ribs. Transfer to a dutch oven or oven safe pot.

3. In the same skillet, briefly brown vegetables. Add to the short ribs.

4. Deglaze the skillet with beef broth or water. Scrape all the bottom bits and pour all the liquid into the short ribs/ vegetables mixture. 

5. Add tomatoes, wine, paprika, cayenne and bay leaves to the pot. Make sure that all the ingredients are submerged in the tomatoes/ wine/ beef broth. 

6. Cover pot and transfer into the oven. Braise for 4 hours. Check occasionally to make sure that there is enough liquid to cover all the ingredients. Add more broth if necessary. 

7. Right before ready to serve the short ribs, prepare couscous according to packaging instructions. You will not need additional flavoring for the couscous as there will be plenty of braising liquid! 

Baked Pork Chops with Carolina BBQ sauce

It's Sunday afternoon and I have been sitting on the couch all day watching back to back football games. I have a bottle of Sam Adams sitting on the coffee table and I'm all by myself.

I know, I have problems.

I might have been a dude in my last life.

That might explain my obsession with large portions of meat.

And large portions of carbs.

(I added some kale in there to make myself feel better about the large portions of meat and carbs.)

Hey, at least I have not resorted to pizza delivery while watching the games. That's something to be proud of, right? ;)

Baked Pork Chops with Carolina BBQ sauce


For the brine:
3 pieces of pork chops (with bones)
8 cups of water
3 tbsp of salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
A handful of black peppercorns (I used ground black pepper)
Optional: a few cloves of garlic, bay leaves

For BBQ sauce:
See Bobby Flay's BBQ sauce on Food Network 
Note: I made half of the recipe for two people and still had a lot of leftovers. It was very delicious and could be stored in a Tupperware for a few days in the fridge.

1. Mix all of the brine ingredients and leave pork chops in the brine in the fridge for at least 1 hour, up to overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 385F.
3. Drain pork chops and pat dry. Heat a skillet on medium-high and sear both sides until light brown, about 3 minutes on each side.
4. Place pork chops onto a baking dish and cook for about 25 mins. In the meantime, prepare BBQ sauce.

Baked potatoes
Wash potatoes thoroughly. With a fork, poke holes around the potatoes. Lightly coat potatoes with olive oil and salt. Bake at 350F for 1 hour and 15 minutes. When they are done, use a knife to cut a slit and push on both ends of the potato to open.

Sauté Kale 
1 bunch of fresh kale, stems discarded and leaves roughly chopped
A few cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper

Heat a skillet on medium heat. Add olive oil and sauté garlic for a minute. Add all the kale and cook until all the leaves are wilted, about 5 minutes. Add lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.

Steak burritos

I really, really, REALLY love steak burritos. I like them with black beans, rice, the spiciest salsa, cheese, a little bit of sour cream, guacamole, and lettuce. In that order please, because that's how the Chipotle assembly line is set up.

When I go to Chipotle, I hoard the Tabasco sauce like it's my job. No sir, you can't take it because I will need it until I'm done. See, I add hot sauce after every single bite to get maximum spiciness. Get it? Now go away.

I never order burrito bowls. That defeats the purpose of eating a burrito. I also never take anything to go. Because who wouldn't finish such a delicious burrito in one sitting? Taking anything to go, especially at Chipotle, is for wimps.

This obsession doesn't end at Chipotle. I have extended it to my home kitchen...

So I can find good marinades for steak.

AND enjoy a delicious burrito (or two) right in the comfort of my apartment after a long workout.

I also improvised and added this onion relish, which was ah-mazing.

And of course, a very spicy salsa.

And when you start putting everything together, you will start to face the harsh reality that no matter how good your homemade burrito taste, you will never be able to wrap it around neatly like Chipotle does.

So I just ate it like it was a big ass taco. Worked for me!

Steak Burritos
Makes about 4 medium sized burritos

1 piece of flank steak or rib eye steak, around 1lb
1 can of black beans
4 whole wheat tortillas

For steak marinade:
2 tbsp white vinegar
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lime, juiced
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
For onion relish:
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
2 tbsp white vinegar or lime juice
Dash of sugar
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
Mix well and let sit until other components are ready.

For salsa:
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped
Few sprigs of cilantro, finely chopped (including stems)
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Pinch of white sugar
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Marinade steak for an hour up to overnight.
2. Prepare salsa and onion relish. Heat up black beans in a small pot.
3. Heat a skillet to medium high. Cut steak into cubes and pan fry until desired doneness is achieved. Set aside.
4. In a separate, clean skillet (or the one used above but cleaned), heat tortillas on both sides until slightly charred.
5. Assemble all the ingredients together and serve immediately.

Yogurt Marinated Roast Cornish Hen

One of my favorite quotes of all times:

Not sure if I would put lemons in my Tanquery, but lemons and limes are definitely best friends with cocktails, beer, and food.

No, this post is not about cocktails. I had long given up on mixing fancy concoctions and pouring them into tall swanky martini glasses. These days, I just throw a couple of rocks into a short class, fill 1/3 of the glass with Tanquery or whatever I can get my hands on, and top that off with, again, whatever I can get my hands on. Yeah, I'm kinda a sloppy drinker.

What I am about to give you, however, is an amazing anything-but-sloppy marinade recipe for chicken. This marinade is my favorite by far, needs a couple of hours to soak into the meat, and gives you the best, juiciest, tastiest chicken you will ever eat. You can use it on a cornish hen (as shown below), or chicken pieces with or without bones. It's very flexible and you can easily adjust the amount to suit your needs. Seriously, try it now. You will not regret it!

Yogurt Marinated Roast Cornish Hen

1/2 cup plain yogurt

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp sesame oil (I used the spicy kind)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder (optional)

1 tsp brown sugar 

1 tsp ground fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1. Rinse cornish hen and pat dry. 

2. In a medium-sized bowl, mix all the above ingredients together. Rub it all over the cornish hen, leave hen in the bowl and refrigerate for a few hours, up to over night. 

3. Preheat oven at 375.

4. Place cornish hen on a baking tray and roast for an hour, or until juices run clear.

5. When there's 15 mins of roasting time left, braise chicken with its own juices to make sure the skin stays moist. 

6. Serve immediately.