I can honestly say one of the best things about having this blog (and there are many!) is the many other styles of cooking I get to see each and every day. Each of them are talented in their own rite and I love learning about new products and styles of cooking. For example, I've heard of Grapeseed oil before, but I never used it personally until I heard it mentioned on a fellow bloggers Facebook page, Lauren Kelly, Certified Nutritionist. According to Lauren, Grapeseed oil is packed with polyunsaturated fats, which studies have shown helps lower cholesterol. It has a mild, neutral flavor like canola oil and has a hight smoke point, which means it can be used at higher temperatures unlike olive oil. Studies have even shown that the antioxidants in grapeseed oil even help prevent against certain cancers and heart disease. So on my last shopping trip, I picked up a bottle, which was about the same price as the Canola Oil I usually buy, and tried it out on these pork cutlets. They were very good and had a light, refreshing flavor. It was hard to tell a taste difference with the coconut and lime flavors but the breading browned nicely and the oil wasn't burning, causing that smokey flavor an oil sometimes gets if left on the heat for too long. So thank you Lauren for the great tip and I can't wait to try it out in salads as well!
Coconut & Lime Breaded Pork Cutlets
4-6oz. Center Cut, Boneless Pork Chops
1c. Flour
1 c. Panko Breadcrumbs
1c. Flaked Coconut
1 Lime, zest and juice
2 Eggs
1/4 c. 2% Milk
Grapeseed Oil, for frying
Trim any fat from the pork chops then cut horizontally into 1/4" thick slices (approximately 2 per chop depending on the thickness) then pound to thin out using a meal mallet so that they are uniform in size. Prepare three separate bowls. One for the flour. The second, combine the eggs, milk and lime juice. And the third, combine the breadcrumbs with the coconut. First dip the meat into the flour, then the egg mixture, then into the coconut breadcrumb mixture. Heat a large saute pan with approximately 1/4"-1/2" oil until it is very hot. Gently add the cutlets, browning on each side until they are cooked through and golden. Drain meat on paper towels to remove excess oil then serve. Makes 8-10 cutlets.
Enjoy!
Pin It
First, I wanted to let you know that during the week of January 23, 2012, I am being featured as "Chef of the Week" over at eRecipe.com. I'm fairly new to this website but what I like about it is that it gives me the nutritional breakdown for the recipes I enter into their site. I've already started posting some of them but look for more to come in the future.
I recently received a subscription from Cooking Light Magazine for Christmas and was thrilled. I had been a subscriber years ago, but I rarely found the time to read it, let alone cook anything out of it with my hectic schedule. As I was flipping through the January/February 2012 issue last weekend, I came across a recipe for this Warm Coconut Rice Pudding. Now, I'm not a big fan of any pudding (or jello, it's a texture thing), but my hubby LOVES rice pudding and I can honestly say I've made it for him once in the almost 17 years we've been married. Instead, I rely on my MIL to make it or buy Kozy Shack. I happened to have all of the ingredients, except for coconut milk on hand, so I improvised and used some Coco Lopez Creme of Coconut (hidden in the back of my pantry leftover from last summer's Pina Coladas...ahhh...could really go for one of those right about now..but I digress). He said it was good but also said that he preferred the original kind better. I tasted it and to me it was a little sweet, but I'm sure it wouldn't be as sweet if you used the coconut milk like it called for. I can tell you that none of it went in the garbage so it must not have been that bad. :)
Warm Coconut Rice Pudding
Original Recipe Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2012
1 c. Water
1c. Uncooked Instant Rice
1/2 c. Sugar
3 tbsp. Cornstarch
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 c. 2% Milk
2 Large Egg Yolks
1 c. Light Coconut Milk (I substituted 1/2c. Coco Lopez Creme of Coconut)
1/4c. Flaked Sweetened Coconut
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Ground Cardamom (I didn't use this either)
Boil water then stir in rice. Cover pot, reduce heat and let simmer 5 minutes then remove from heat and set aside. Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl. Next, combine 1/4 cup 2% milk and yolks in a bowl using a whisk. Then add the sugar mixture to the milk mixture. Bring remaining 1 1/4 cups of 2% milk and the coconut milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Gradually add the hot milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that you don't cook the eggs. Return milk mixture to a pan and bring to a boil and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, stir in cooked rice then add the coconut, vanilla, cinnamon and cardamom. Serves 6 (1/2 cup pudding)
Points+=6pts per serving (made as originally published)
Enjoy!
