Cheesy Sweet and Tangy Fried Pork Chops

The 2 things I have found that my boyfriend loves almost as much as video games (keyword "almost") are my cat Catatafish and delicious food. Well let me change that, it would be a tie for second between video game and delicious food with Catata coming in fourth and me in first (I've told him it is ok to love video games more than me but he just won't listen).

Anyways, one of our new found loves with food is using the deep fryer. I was fortunate to receive a deep fryer for Christmas after all the hints I gave him ("Babe! These stuffed mushrooms would be delicious deep fried!" or "Omg, can you imagine what real authentic deep fried fish and chips would taste like?!") and I have to say it was one of the best gifts ever aside from my fancy knives.

So when dinner came around my eye caught the deep fryer and I knew it was time to bust the bad boy out! Since we love us some country fried steaks, I decided to deep fry us some pork chops! And since I had recently just talked to my mom, the combination of pork, apple sauce, and sauerkraut were stuck in my head (I mentioned to her I was cooking pork and she informed me of my Nana's favorite way to eat them as the combo I just mentioned). Going off of this combo I decided to use apple in the marinade and add some cheddar cheese to the mix since sauerkraut and cheddar go well, and apple and cheddar go well, so why wouldn't all three! The meal came out way better than expected, which made me super happy that I wrote it all down! If you make these, I am sure you won't be disappointed! Enjoy!

• 2 Tbsp Honey
• 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Apple Cider
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Powder
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Powder
• 1/4 cup and 2 tsp Flour
• 4 3 oz Pork Chops
• 1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/4 cup Milk
• 1 tsp Butter
• 3/4 cup Sauerkraut
• Oil for frying in (I use peanut or canola oil, but any oil will do)

Step 1: Combine the honey, brown sugar, apple cider, mustard powder, cayenne powder, and 1 tsp of flour in a bowl. Mix well until it is smooth and not lumpy. Cover the pork chops in this mixture and set aside. 

Step 2: Set up the deep fryer and turn to 350 degree Fahrenheit. If you don't have a deep fryer, use a nice sized pan with a large enough rim that will be able to hold enough oil to cover the steaks while cooking (turn stove top to medium high).


Step 3: Go back to your pork chops and place 1/4 cup flour on a plate. Cover the pork chops in this flour on all sides and set aside (you may or may not need more flour, so keep it on hand). Once the frying oil is hot enough, start cooking the pork chops for 5 minutes each.

Step 4: While the pork chops are cooking, pull out a small sauce pan and combine the milk, butter, cheddar cheese, and 1 tsp of flour and melt at low to medium low heat. Stir every so often to make sure the cheese melts. At the same time in another sauce pan, heat up the sauerkraut on low heat.


Step 5: Once the pork chops finish, place them on a plate and cover them in the sauerkraut and then smother them in the cheese sauce. Before serving, add a pinch of black pepper if you wish. Enjoy!


Yield: 2 servings (2 pork chops each)

Country Fried Onion and Mushroom Steak

Me: 'What do you want for dinner tonight?'
Him: 'Tacos!'
Me: 'We don't have tacos. :('
Him: 'What do we have?'
Me: 'Pork, chicken, steaks... I could do a Salisbury with the mushrooms I bought?'
Him: 'That could be cool...'
Me: 'OH I KNOW! It will be waiting for you when you get home! :D'

And that is usually how our meal planning works half of the time. Thankfully I came up with the brilliant idea (using him for inspiration because hey, I don't want to surprise anyone unless I know they are going to love my food experiment) to try to make some Country Fried Steaks with an onion and mushroom gravy; one of his all-time faves when we go out to eat. After deciding what should go in it, I just had to figure out whether or not to pan-fry them or use the deep fryer. After a few minutes of no decisions, he suggested to try both out, so we did! 

We both thought that the deep-fryer would be the winner, hands down. But to our surprise, the pan-fried steaks came out much better than the deep fried ones! Cooking in the pan allowed the breading to soak up all the delicious flavored that were being released by the pan, giving it a fuller taste than the deep fried one. Because of that I opted to only give directions for the pan-fried recipe, however if you really want to deep fry them please do so for 4 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy!

• 4 3-ounce Steaks
• 3/4 cup Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
• 1 Tbsp Green Onion (was 1 stalk for me)
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Milk
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Onion
• 1/4 cup Mushroom
• 1/2 cup Beef Broth
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and green onion in a container. Beat egg until fluffy and then add 1/4 cup Milk and whisk. Once combined, dip steak in egg batter and then press in the flour concoction until coated. Do this for all 4 steaks.

Step 2: In a sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once butter melts, turn heat to medium-high and place steaks in the pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes each, or until golden brown. Be sure not to move them for at least the first two minutes to help the breaking stick to the steak or else it might fall off.

Step 3: Once steaks are down, remove them from the pan and turn the stove to medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook in the pan until soft. Slowly add in the milk, broth, flour, and cornstarch to the onions and mushrooms. Make sure to stir while adding in the ingredients in order to mix them properly. 

Step 4: After gravy has been mixed, turn heat to low temperature and let sit for a minute. Stir again, and then turn off heat and let sit for another 1-2 minutes. Gravy will thicken up as it cools a bit.

Step 4: Cover steaks with gravy and enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings.