Welcome back and thank you for checking out my blog. Today's dinner is Maple-Mustard Pork Chops with Butternut Squash Puree. These are actually two recipes that work well together.
For as long as I can remember I've been making a mess in the kitchen, from the failure of Catchup and mustard with crunchberries to a twenty year experiment to master the perfect barbecue ribs I've never been afraid to put the heat to a bunch of simple ingredients, but I experienced my share of mistakes. At my house I do the large majority of the cooking but for the last decade or so I've really only been opening a bag of ingredients and dumping it into a pan or throwing a steamable bag into the microwave until done. This is not cooking, it's surviving. It leads to a food spiral that ends in a routine of eating the same few things over and over again. Can you see why Ellen and I like restaurants so much? When we started our diets I knew that I was going to have to break the cycle of eating prepared dinners and start to do some real cooking. The challenge that I've had to face over the last three and a half months has been to get into a regular routine and cook, really cook, as often as possible. To date I have cooked 90 dinners this year. The one thing that has saved me through all of this is that I've been able to draw from a large number of diet recipes. The first dinner that I made, going all the way back to January 2nd., was Maple-Mustard Pork Chops with Butternut Squash Puree which I'm going to share with you now. So let's look at the recipe.
Maple-Mustard Pork Chops
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 (6 ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
cooking spray
1 Tbs. butter
2 Tbs. finely chopped shallots
1/4 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
2 Tbs. maple syrup
2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
Sprinkle both sides of pork with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until cooked through , but with a slight blush in the center. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Return pan to medium-high heat. Add butter to pan to coat. Add shallots; saute 3 minutes or until tender and translucent. Add broth; bring to a boil and cook 1 minute. Stir in mustard, syrup, and remaining 1/4 tsp salt; cook 1 minute or until slightly thick. Return pork to pan. Cook pork 1 minute on each side or until thoroughly heated (be careful not to overcook pork). Serve pork with sauce. Garnish each serving with 1-1/2 tsp parsley.
This recipe yields 1 pork chop and 1 Tbs. sauce per serving.
Butternut Squash Puree
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/3 cup fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth
2 (12 ounce) packages frozen cooked
1 Tbs. butter
1/2 tsp grated orange rind
1-1/2 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Place broth and squash in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cover and cook 15 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Add butter and remaining ingredients; stir until combined.
This recipe yields 3/4 cup puree per serving.
These are easy recipes which is why I chose to make them first. The biggest thing to consider is the temperature under the maple-mustard sauce, keep an eye on it as it will burn easily. As always, if you try these recipes check back here and let me know how they turned out.
Next week - Cheesy Chili-Mac or My Chaotic Life Part II.
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