Food and Wine Magazine Edition: Pork Tonkatsu

My awesome brother got me a subscription to Food and Wine Magazine!  Isn’t he awesome!

Anyway, as a  commitment to myself, I will cook AT LEAST 1 recipe from each edition of the magazine, and present it each month to my faithful readers. This month’s issue provided easy recipes from different ethnic backgrounds including Mexican, Thai, and Japanese.  This blog post will be my monthly Food and Wine Magazine Edition!

I’ve ‘mastered’ a lot of Mexican, and a lot of Thai food requires fish oil (gag me!). Therefore, I chose Pork Tonkasu, a recipe from Japan. This is a breaded and fried pork dish served over rice with a from-scratch sauce that is absolutely delicious.

Thus, I present to you, Pork Tonkatsu!

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup ketchup
2. 1/4 cup apple butter or applesauce
3. 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4. 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
5. 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
6. 1 teaspoon unseasoned rice vinegar
7. 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8. 2 egg whites, beaten
9. 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
10. Two 8-ounce pork tenderloins, cut into 2-inch pieces and pounded 1/2 inch thick
11. Salt
12. 1/4 cup canola oil
13. Steamed rice

Directions:

In a saucepan, bring the ketchup, apple butter, Worcestershire, soy, mustard and vinegar to a simmer; transfer to 4 bowls. Cool.

Put the flour, egg whites and panko in 3 separate shallow bowls. Season the pork cutlets with salt, then dredge in the flour, tapping off the excess. Dip the cutlets in the egg white, followed by the panko, pressing the crumbs to help them adhere.

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the cutlets and cook over moderate heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Brush the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil on the cutlets. Flip and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes longer. Transfer the tonkatsu to a work surface and cut into strips. Transfer to plates and serve with rice and the dipping sauce.

Disclaimer: This recipe is directly from Food and Wine Magazine. No copy write infringement is intended.

Butternut Squash Soup

A few weeks ago, I got a butternut squash in my organic food delivery, seen here (also, look at that amazing garlic!):

So much deliciousness!

Ingredients (FYI, I made 1/2 this recipe because my squash was only 1.4 lbs):

1 butternut squash, 2-3 lbs

2 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

6 cups chicken broth

Nutmeg, salt, pepper

You can also get out your fancy immersion blender now, the one you never use! If you don’t have one, you’ll at least need a blender.

Directions:

Remove the skin off of the butternut squash, remove the seeds, and cut into 1″ pieces. Set aside.

Butternut squash, no skin or seeds, cut into 1" pieces

In your large saucepan, melt the butter and add the onions. Cook about 8 minutes or until translucent. Then add the chicken stock and squash. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer until the squash is tender (about 15-20 minutes).

Remove the squash and puree with your immersion blender or in your regular blender. Return the puree to the saucepan. Season with the spices. Serve immediately!

Delicious and simple butternut squash soup