A few days ago, I made some super delicious, ground breaking, thick cut pork chops (hint* hint* ahhhmazing future pork chop recipe in your near future, you can just call me MS. CLEO ;) Sometimes.... we TRULY just gotta toot our own horns a bit and be dang proud of the little accomplishments we manage to achieve in a day or overtime! FACT: LIFE ISN'T EASY. Some days ya' just want to throw in that kitchen towel, hulk smash the dirty dishes, run off to Italy, and eat heavy, cheesy carb loaded fresh spaghetti made by a hairy man that you can't understand, while sappy accordion love jams tenderly caress your ears (well it sounds sweet to me anyways, hehe). But then... you snap back to reality, suck it up, and realize you have dinner to make and leftovers to reinvigorate. I took inventory/scoured the pantry and fridge, thinking of how best to incorporate my ONE leftover, lonesome little pork chop.(HMMM, Should I: A. Fight the ol' man to the deaths like a hungry rabid dog?! Nah... it was just the Holidays. B. Pretend le' pork chop never existed and hoard it for myself like a greedy gal? Better not. or C. Make pork fried rice?! If you guessed C you're correct... at least this time) Rice, eggs, soy sauce, veggies, and a soon to not be so lonesome pork chop, CHICKITY CHECK! I suppose....I'll postpone running away to Italy for two more days and instead enjoy some countrified Chinese Cuisine in my sweatpants, which is pretty awesome too!
 |
| Lil' Lone Ranger ...Leftover Pork Chop |
Whatcha' Need:
- 3 cups precooked, and chilled rice (I used white rice, because it's WAY cheaper to buy in bulk bags than a pretty box + saving $ is nice.)
- 3 large Eggs
- 1 cup chopped, precooked leftover pork (or poultry)
- 1/3 cup Soy Sauce
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 TBSP Brown Sugar (honey would be good too)
- 3 TBSP Lemon Juice (or lime, optional, but it gives the dish a sweet n' sour feel)
- 2 cups frozen Veggies, thawed (I used 1 cup chopped broccoli (shh, he hates Broccoli, but he loved this dish) and 1 cup peas and carrots)
- 1 TBSP Vinegar
- 2 TBSP Margarine (or oil, if you prefer)
- 1 TBSP of Minced Onion
- 1 tsp each Chili Powder & Onion Powder
I started by precooking my rice according to the bag directions and adding a few of my favorite spices to the water. Then, I cooled it down in the fridge for about 2 hours along with my leftover pork chop marinated in 1 TBSP Soy Sauce, 1 TBSP Lemon Juice & 1/3 cup water. ~This isn't necessary, BUT, building layers of flavors when you have the time is always a nice thang :)
 |
| I poured the marinade directly in the bag, squished it around a few times, sealed it , and laid it flat on the bottom shelf of my fridge. Easy Breezy. |
Next, in a large frying pan, wok, or sauce pan heat (over medium/high) 2TBSP Butter, thawed veggies, 1/3 cup water, minced onion, and desired recommended spices. Heat about ten minutes or until the veggies are just tender and almost all the liquid is absorbed.
Stir in the precooked chopped pork (or poultry) and heat about 5-10 minutes, stirring regularly. By this time all the liquid should be absorbed and the pan starting to really sizzle.
Push the veggie meat mixture completely over to one side of the pan, until exposing the entire bottom of the other half of the pan. Carefully, crack your eggs into the empty side of the pan and scramble them with back and forth spatula motions. Try to avoid & forget about the other half of the pan (w/out the eggs in it) to prevent veggies from falling into the mixture. It's not a big deal if it does happen, but you want to try and avoid it as much as possible.
 |
| ~they wanted to mingle~ |
After about 5 minutes or so the eggs should be fairly scrambled. Now.... WE unify or mix both sides of the pan.
Still keeping the heat on medium-high, we stir in the cold, precooked rice and allow it about 5 minutes to heat up and mingle with the other goodies in the pan.
While that is going down, mix together the soy sauce, brown sugar, vinegar and 2TBSP lemon juice. When the rice is warm, pour that mixture into the pan and toss. Rice is really absorbent so give it sometime to soak in all those delish flavors, but stir the mixture frequently. Cook for about 5-10 more minutes and then brace yourself for awesomeness i.e. turn that beauty off, let it cool a tad, and then take a magical trip to China Town in your mouth without having to leave your house ;) It's these small, but epic little victories that keep me from fleeing to Italy lol!
Side Note: This paired excellently with pineapple chunks! I would've actually added it to the dish, but for the picky dude's sake... I ate it on the side. &&& Despite this being loaded with veggies & containing minimal meat (including broccoli and his nemesis soy sauce muhaha) ....my fella totally dug it and went back for seconds. Yup, totally a fun, cheap dinner winner! I hope you dig it :) Chow for now, I've got leftovers to attend too <3
No comments:
Post a Comment