Pasta pastiche "There you go again"

There you go again (said the little voice in my head as I gazed in bemused wonderment at this collection of stuff I had put into a single dish for dinner).

Flashback to earlier in the day: sitting on my kitchen counter was a perfectly formed acorn squash. I had just had a thought which will probably haunt me during the night tonight: what if there were a squirrel large enough to carry the acorn squash in its teeth and bury it?

Revelation of the day: microwaved that squash by cutting it in half, scooping out the seeds (saved for roasting), and nuking it for 6 minutes. Perfectly done. Doused in butter, sauteed and mashed, it became part of the one-dish wonder, serving it's master as a sauce.

Two hotdog-like brats were lurking in the fridge. Brussels sprouts were crying out to have their outer leaves stripped and sauteed for a few minutes in butter and oil.

Half a box of cooked penne (doused with EVOO to prevent sticking) was waiting to be needed in the event of a power outage due to that evil woman, Sandy. Parmesan remained dedicated to the daily grind.

When these culinary characters leapt together into a very large saute pan and got hot, they took on the call of a Siren luring me to the island of delection and delight.

No, I'm not drunk, just full, full, full. People, if only our ponderous political candidates could come together the way this dish did. They wouldn't run for office, they'd give up everything in a quest for Michelin stars.

Oven-fried pork chops with stuffed delicata squash

The only time Scooper cares about food is when I assemble his kibble and canned stuff at about 6:30 am and 4 pm. So you see him below doing what he does best.

My original intent was to make pork chops the way I saw Giada do them on TV the other day. She fried them in very shallow oil. At the very last minute I decided to bake them.

As for the stuffed squash, I apologize to the one of you who posted stuffed acorn squash the other day with spinach. I’ve lost track as to who it was. When I found a single delicata squash at King Soopers the other day, I knew what I was going to do. The first thing was to harvest all of the (not so huge quantity) Swiss chard from the garden. It turned out to be exactly the quantity needed for this.

The chops were brined for about 6 hours in a combination of salt water and black pepper. No further salt was needed. As for the squash, the skin is edible and we choose to keep it on.

Oven-fried pork loin chops served with stuffed delicata squash
1 delicata squash
2 tbsp butter
onion powder to taste
chicken broth
Swiss chard, enough to make 1 – 2 cups cooked
1 large clove garlic, minced or pressed
salt and pepper
3 pork loin chops (it’s what the quantity in the package was)
1 egg
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp water
black pepper
all-purpose flour
bread crumbs, homemade or panko
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Start by slicing the squash in half lengthwise. Scrape out the seeds and pulp. Place 1 tbsp butter, ½ tsp onion powder and some chicken stock into each cavity. Bake until tender, about 45 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and pour the remaining liquid into a saute pan (for the chard).

Chop or tear the chard into 2-3” pieces. Heat the squash liquid and cook the chard in it, with the garlic, Cook the chard in the pan for about 10 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. When ready to serve, nuke the squash to rewarm it, stuff it with chard, and you’re off to the races.

After brining, rinse the pork well and dry it. Sprinkle with some pepper, dust with flour, dredge in beaten egg (to which you have added the mayo and water), then in the bread crumbs. Let them rest for 30 minutes to set the coating. Place them on a wire rack over a shallow baking sheet. Spray them with Pam to enchance crispness. Bake until they reach 150 degrees. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like a high enough temp, but it is. It will be pinkish in the center, but will also be more moist than at a higher temp. Trichinosis, an extremely rare occurrence these days, is destroyed at 138 degrees. So, no worrieds. Let the chops rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Just a thought about ravioli

This is not a recipe post. I found this image in my camera and it reminded me of how good some ravioli was that I made a few weeks ago. The stuffing was a squash mixture that Peter made. I used wonton wrappers, the 3" or so sized squares. I trimmed the corners because that enabled my getting 6 pieces in a saute pan at one time.

Most of the time I steam ravioli, or simmer them in salted water. For some reason I decided to fry them this time. It takes only 1/4" of oil in a 10" skillet. Time? About 2 minutes per side.

The accompanimensts are a homemade tomato soup and a chopped salad.