Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust and Buttermilk Gravy (SP)

BUTTERMILK PEPPER GRAVY

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup ham broth or chicken stock
• 1/4 cup whole milk, or as needed
• 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, or to taste

• 4 boneless pork rib chops (cutlets)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• One 3.5-ounce package dried ramen noodles, pounded until crumbled but not pulverized
• 1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil

Gravy mise en place.

I'm pretty sure I've never made real straight up gravy before since I'm not really ever roasting large cuts of meats for the holidays or anything.  Someday.

This is more like a bechamel/veloute.  I've done that before.

Melt butter over low heat.

Sprinkle in flour and stir until smooth.  Cook off the raw flour taste but do not allow the roux to color.  I tried to go for a nutty scent, but it wasn't asking for it anyway.

Add broth, milk, and buttermilk.  Cook until it coats the back of the spoon.  Seaaon with salt and pepper.

Lee Jr says he likes his "really salty", but I was inclined toward moderation.

I apologize not showcaing the whole breading process.  But

1) Dredge pork in flour.

2) Dip in mixture of egg and whole milk.

3) Dump in the bread crumbs and ramen.  Press that stuff on.

Fry for 2 minutes on each side.

And finish them off in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.

 

I was disappointed by how few likes this picture got on Facebook, but I understand that it doesn't look like the prettiest dish I ever made.

I totally dig chicken-fried stuff myself.  Ramen only makes things better and it's cool to have a "gravy" that came together really easily.  I can't be bothered to make sides most of the time so I just microwaved those veggies in a bag.

Macaroni and Cheese with Kielbasa and Mustard (NBR)

Bread Crumb Topping

• 6 slices (about 6 ounces) good-quality white sandwich bread, torn into rough pieces
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Pasta and Cheese

• 1 pound elbow macaroni
• Salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 5 cups milk
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
• 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (2 cups)
• 8 ounces smoked kielbasa
• 1 medium onion
• 4 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard

Bread and butter.

Mise en place.

Cook onions in butter until lightly browned.

Add flour, dried mustard, and cayenne and cook until fragrant.

Gradually add milk, bring to a boil, and thicken.  Basically, make a bechamel sauce.

Off heat, add cheese and stir until melted.

Add pasta, kielbasa, and mustard to cheese sauce.  Throw it all into a broiler safe pan and top with the massive amount of bread crumbs.

Oops, too close to the broiler.  It was literally on fire when I pulled it out.

 

Was this an improvement on the mac and cheese I made a couple months ago?  At least it wasn't grainy and didn't involve an insane amount of prep.  Maybe it just goes to show that I'm not a huge fan of mac and cheese.

4-Cheese Macaroni with Apples and Bacon (GK)

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter plus 3 tablespoons
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 cups cubed ciabatta bread
• 6 cups whole milk [Nice local stuff since Market Basket milk my parents bought had gone bad at this point and I went to the Boston Local Food Festival with Ori F.]
• 1 small onion, halved
• 4 ounces bacon (3 to 4 slices), cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 Fuji apples, peeled and diced
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 ounces sopressatta or other similarly spiced meat, diced
• 4 ounces cooked ham, shredded or chopped
• 1 pound dry conchiglie (shell pasta)
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 ounces whole-milk mozzerella cheese, grated
• 4 ounces aged Cheddar cheese, grated
• 4 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, grated
• 4 ounces Havarti cheese, grated

Mise en place.

Crisped bacon.

Garlic, three tablespoons butter and pepper flakes heated over medium.  Toss with ciabatta and toasted in the oven.

Process the bacon bread crumbs.

Apples are cooked in the remaining bacon fat until just soft and not mushy.  Toss with vinegar.

Crisping sopressatta.

Simmer the onion together with the milk for 15-20 minutes.

I wish I could actually have someone film me doing action-filled stuff like cooking a bechamel sauce (it becomes a mornay sauce once you add cheese).  First you cook the butter and flour together until it smells nutty.  Then you gradually add the milk...
And the whole thing seizes up like crazy until you nearly add all the milk and the texture loosens.  Then you finally reduce it until it coats the back of a spoon.

Stir in all the grated cheese.

Combine noodles with apple mixture.  Then add mornay sauce.

Cover with the bacon bread crumbs (a rather lot of them) and a tiny bit of mozzeralla.  I was supposed to use a smaller pan but I didn't haven't anything else I figured would be broiler-safe.

Too close/long under the broiler?

The dish sort of left me feeling as if I wouldn't be in some part happier just making it the way I did before I started cooking: out of a box with a packet of velveeta sauce.  It just didn't hit the spot, it wasn't lusciously creamy, and it makes me wonder if it was me or the recipe that messed up.
Next time I'm doing an ATK version of this dish.