Once again!  HORRIBLE picture!  I apologize internet food blogging posh world.

Nonetheless!   This is a quick and easy dinner option.   I personally love the taste of pork.  It has it’s own complex flavors that I enjoy more than chicken but is definitely not as intense as beef.  I’ve made versions of this recipe a few times and no matter what, it has always tasted amazing.  You can add more sugar to the sauce to make it a little more sweet, add red wine, slice up some crunchy Asian/Korean pears or a crisp apple in with the onions.  I love this recipe and so does Sean.  Whenever we are feeling like an Americanski-riceless-not-so-Asian dinner, grilled pork with a balsamic sauce is the awesome.

Grilled Pork with an Onion Balsamic Reduction Sauce
Serves 4

4 Pork Chops
1 medium sweet onion, sliced
1/4th cup of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of sherry
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of honey
salt and pepper

Heat up a hot griddle/grill or skillet on medium.  While the grill is getting hot, lightly coat the pork chops with olive oil and salt and pepper.  Throw those chops on the grill for about 5 or 6 minutes on each side.  These chops are a medium thickness.

In a small pan, add a little olive oil to coat the bottom and add the sliced onions. Lower the intensity of the fore to low.  Once they start to get soft and brown, add the balsamic, sugar, honey, and sherry.   I let it cook/reduce for about 8 minutes.

Plop the grilled pork on a plate and spoon the onion and balsamic ontop.  Eat!

You know, I always have great intentions for a fabulous, involved Sunday supper.   But let’s face it:  I typically don’t wander into the kitchen on the weekend until  I’m actually starting to get hungry.  So when we bought this rack of ribs for the weekend, I’m sure we pictured firing up the charcoal grill and recreating some 3-hour Bobby Flay masterpiece.  This did not come to pass.  Instead, I went for the easy option in half the time.  And gosh darnit, they was gooood.

Lazy Oven Baby Back Ribs
Serves 2

1 rack of pork baby back ribs
2 tbsp bbq rub (I recommend the California BBQ Seasoning from Surfa’s, but most anything will work here.  You can also put together your own my mixing some chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, granulated garlic and onion etc)
2 tbsp brown sugar
Salt and Pepper
1 1/2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce

Set your oven to a toasty 400°F.  While its coming to temp, wash and trim  your rack of ribs.  It’s good to have a thin layer of fat on the meaty side, but not too much as it won’t have time to fully render in the oven.  Pat it dry and then thoroughly rub in the bbq rub, brown sugar, and salt and pepper into both sides.  You want a nice even coat of seasoning, just like in the pic below.

Now wrap the whole rack up burrito style in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil.  You’re looking for a very tight seal to trap in all the meat’s juices during cooking.  Toss that onto a baking sheet, bones down and meaty side up, set the timer for an hour and they’re ready for the oven.

Alright, so the hour has passed and these ribs are ready for some tasty bbq sauce.  Tonight I just doctored up a generic bottled sauce with some honey, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and a tasty chipotle hotsauce.  You wanna whip up something homemade?  Knock yourself out.  Open up the foil (and keep it open from this point on), give the ribs a flip, and baste about 1/3 of the sauce onto the bone side of the rib rack.  You’ll notice that the meat has started to pull away from the bone at this point. Return that to the 400° oven for about 15 minutes.

Flip the ribs again and baste the meaty side, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.  Finally, give them one last baste then slide them under your oven’s broiler for 2-5 minutes, and keep a close eye on them.  This will help caramelize and set the bbq sauce which sorta replicates how the grill would treat them.

And there you have it!  I probably should have let them go a few more minutes in the broiler, but my tummy won the battle.  Slice them up and EAT.  What I really liked about this recipe is that they produced the perfect rib tenderness.  Not so tender that they fall off the bone before they reach your mouth, but just tender enough to very easily pull away when you’re eating.  And yeah, ok, I know it sounds like a lot of work to call them lazy.  But all in all, although it took about 1hr 40 minutes from start to finish, less than 20 minutes was actual hands-on cooking time.  And that suits me just fine.  ENJOY!

Ingredients:
Boneless Port Cutlets (1 per person)
Eggs
Chicken Broth (or water)
Chopped Onions (or mushrooms! in melissa’s case)
Garlic Paste
Panko (or bread crumbs)
Golden Curry Bricks
Sesame Seed Oil
Veggie or Canola Oil

I chopped the onions before I found the camera. Basically it’s one large Sweet Mayan Onion . I like the sweet ones more than regular. They don’t taste so strong and are actually sweet! They also don’t break my heart and make me cry. Waaaah. hehe.

Here’s what I did!

Take the chopped onions, about two tablespoons of sesame seed oil, and a tablespoon or two of garlic paste.
Cook for 3-5 minutes on a medium heat until clear.

Add the chicken broth and/or water. Basically I add enough until the onions are covered.
I put the the whole box of chicken broth in there and a cup of water.
Cover and leave it at a medium heat.
Leave it until it starts boiling.

While the broth is going, work on the porks!

I took regular boneless cutlets and cut off the fat and butterflied the cutlets so that they’re thinner. If you buy the “wafer thin” ones, you won’t need to cut them in half.

Next, pound those guys down until they’re nice and flat and tender and thin and yum!

Put the Panko on a plate.
Mix up some eggs!

Dip the tenderized cutlet into the egg.
Make sure that it’s coated nicely on all sides.

Lay the pork onto the crumbs and get those covered all flakey!

I double dip it into the egg mixture again!

Then back to the Panko!
The double coating makes sure that the cutlet is nicely covered and also makes it crispier when cooked!

On a medium heat, let the pan heat up a bit.
Add enough Canola or Veggie Oil to nicely coat the bottom of the pan.

Place the cutlet into the firrreeee!

Press down on the cutlet gently to keep it nice and flat and yummy!
It takes a good while to brown on a medium heat, but it will keep it from burning! It takes about 5-10 minutes on each side.

While the cutlet is cooking, attend to the curry!

Add the Golden Curry bricks!
Make sure to stir frequently so that it dissolves nicely.
Cover with a lid and let it stay warm on a low heat.

Back to the cutlet!

When it’s brown, flip that shite!

When the cutlet is done, put it on a cooling rack (not your boobs), with a paper towel on top to collect some of the excess oil.
Let it cool for a few minutes until it’s warm to the touch but touchable and not burninating the countryside.


Slice that shit!

EATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!