Crisp Pork Cutlets and Cheesy Potatoes For Eight and Storing Fresh Herbs

We wanted to have friends, David and Laurie, over for dinner prior to Christmas and chose two blogger buddy recipes.  The main course was Crisp Pork Cutlets with Lemon-Caper Sauce from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite and we sided it with our own Brussels sprouts recipe, and Cheesy Potatoes courtesy of Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen.  Please check their sites for the recipes and photos.

We began the meal with an appetizer plate that included marinated mozzarella, with the recipe calling for fresh parsley.  We toss out lots of fresh herbs and I don’t know where I first heard this method (one of your blogs, TV, web, etc) to keep herbs fresh - click on this link to see it at Simply Recipes.  Basically, just add them to a jar of water, cover with a plastic bag, making it tight around the jar, and store in the fridge (except basil).  We used one of the vegetable bags from the market and just finished off this parsley, which was bought during our Florida trip three weeks earlier – I was flabbergasted and am very appreciative to whoever gave me this tip.

I followed Mary's pork cutlet recipe and doubled it for eight pieces of meat.   Rather than paper towels, I drained them on a wire rack and kept them warm in the warming drawer.

The Brussels sprouts were our normal recipe:

1 lb        Brussels sprouts, cleaned

5 pcs     thick cut bacon, fried and chopped

4 T         butter

2 T         lemon juice

2            garlic cloves, minced

¼-½ C  grated parmesan

1. Steam sprouts until nearly done and cut large ones in half lengthwise.

2. Melt butter in a skillet and add garlic and lemon juice – cook garlic a few minutes.

3. Add sprouts and cook until done, tossing to evenly coat with butter mixture.

4. Add bacon, toss, and cook until bacon is warm.

5. Pour into serving bowl and top with grated parmesan.

For the potatoes, we followed Penny’s recipe except we multiplied it by four and used a 12” sauté pan.  The dark is where the cheese stuck so best to use a non-stick pan per the recipe - I really enjoyed cleaning the pan.

This is the range in action, the sprouts went on when the potatoes went in the oven.

This was my plate.

We all enjoyed the meal – thanks Mary and Penny - and after it settled, we finished it off with pie and ice cream furnished by Laurie and David.

Photos best if enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

12/15/13 meal date