Leftovers Turned Fabulous

I HATE leftover food! I cannot stand to throw out food because it wasn't used in time or because no one ate the leftovers. I am constantly bringing in meals for people that I work with, because not only does it give me a great deal of satisfaction to give people good food, but because I am so happy that it's not going to waste!

If I end up with a couple of odds and ends from other meals in the refrigerator, I cannot help but think about what to do with them all day until I figure it out. I almost feel like it consumes my life until I make something deliciously tasty out of the leftover bits!

This meal was definitely an accumulation of foods that either were leftover from another meal, or needed to be used before they went bad...or in the case of the pork chops, both! I need to cook the corn on the cob while it was still at its peak of freshness and deliciousness, and I had a couple of pork chops that were already beaten until thin, that were left over from the stuffed pork chops that were made over the weekend. I also noticed that I had a handful of tater tots left over in the freezer that could probably be used to round off this slapshot meal. It definitely didn't end up being the most elegant meal, but it was super delicious!

Cook the Tater Tots according to the instructions on the bag, and bring a large pot of water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, place the ears of corn into the water and cook for 15 mins. While the corn and tots are cooking you can get started on the breaded pork chops. Crack an egg into a bowl and add a splash of milk (or water) and whisk until combined. The milk or water helps to loosen the egg so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs on your pork chop. Place bread crumbs on a plate. Take a pork chop and cover it with the egg mixture, allow the excess to drip off back into the bowl. Then, cover it with the bread crumbs (just like you would if you were breading chicken). After each pork chop has been breaded, heat a skillet with enough oil to coat the bottom. Over medium heat, gently add the pork chops to the pan, making sure not to crowd the pan. Because the chops are thin, they will only need a couple of minutes on each side. Remove pork and place on newspaper or paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

Remove Tots and Corn once they have finished cooking and arrange all items on a plate. I also took the little bit of left over red sauce from the fridge and heated it up in the microwave, to use as a dipping sauce. You could use any other sauces that you like, or completely omit it, depending on your tastes.

Oh boy, this has been a super busy couple of weeks. My business is finally starting to pick up, and both of my best friends had their birthdays less than a week apart. I made the boob cake for my friend PJ's 40th birthday, and the penis cake for my best friend Amy's birthday. On top of those very challenging cakes (since i don't have erotic cake molds...yet) I had a muffin order, and a couple of sauce orders. As if that was not enough, I still had a week full of working and other 'wifely' duties, I was asked to make one of my husbands favorite dishes, corn stuffed pork chops. This is a fairly simple meal, but I can't lie and say that it was made with any type of enthusiasm :)

I came up with the recipe for my husband, because although I do not eat much meat, (really only chicken for protein) my husband happens to be quite the carnivore. I hate getting stuck in ruts of making the same things over and over again and he hates eating the same bbq pork chops every time he wants pork. So I made this stuffing with corn, Italian bread crumbs, an egg and some butter and thought that it would go well in pork chops. iIt took a long time to get the 'chop stuffing' technique down, but I think I have finally mastered the best way. They started out being more like pork sandwiches, with the stuffing between two thin chops, and now they are pork stuffed rolls.

Ingredients

thinly cut pork chops, beaten to about paper thinness if possible

1 egg

2 tablespoons softened butter

1/4 - 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs

1 can sweet corn (drained)

Barbecue sauce

salt and pepper

garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a foil lined baking sheet, place pork chops in one layer.

In a bowl combine egg and butter, whisk until combined. Slowly add in bread crumbs until the mixture starts to get dry. Add in about 3/4 of the can of corn. Stir until it looks like stuffing, see photo below.

Stir in salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste. I like mine a little more garlicky, so I tend to add tons of garlic powder. After everything is incorporated, take a tablespoon and spoon into the middle of the pork chop, then roll pork chop around filling, leaving the seam side down on the pan.

Once this process has been done to all pork chops, drizzle them with a little bbq sauce.

Place chops in the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes until pork is thoroughly cooked. Let stand about 10 mins to cool and let the juices redistribute.

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Leftovers Turned Fabulous

Corn Stuffed Pork Chops

Support Local News

How important is local news to you? You can support independent, unbiased journalism and help iBerkshires grow for as a little as the cost of a cup of coffee a week.