Pork Piccata

Hello friends, I want you to prepare yourself for one of my favorite dishes I make. This is the first meal I ever made for Cayley when we were first dating and I was driving from Oklahoma City to Ponca City where she lived.  I like to pretend that it was because of this dish that we are husband and wife today.  That or because of my phenomenal good looks and intelligence.  Lets stop kidding.  On that day, however, the protein was pan fried chicken rather than pork chops but the result was just as delicious.  This is a dish of my creation and I have tweaked it over the years so I really hope you enjoy it. Who knows, it may land you a wife? 

Pork Piccata

Lemon Butter Sauce:

1/4 cup white wine

5 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

5 tablespoons heavy cream

1 cup butter, chilled

salt and pepper to taste

Pork and Pasta:

1 pound dry farfalle pasta

4 pork chops - cut off the bone and pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

2  cups vegetable oil

2 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon dry rubbed sage

3 eggs – lightly beaten

1 cup extra flour set aside

salt and pepper to taste

½ pound bacon

12 ounces artichoke hearts, drained and halved

1 tablespoon capers, drained

Directions:

To make the sauce, pour the wine and lemon juice into a saucepan over medium heat. Cook at a low boil until the liquid is reduced by 1/3. Stir in cream, and simmer until it thickens. Gradually add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time to the sauce, stirring until completely incorporated. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, and keep warm.

 

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, and set aside.

To make the pork, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In a bowl, stir together flour, panko, cayenne, salt, and pepper. In a separate bowl, coat the pork in the extra flour then dip the chops in the beaten eggs. Lightly coat the dredged pork with the panko and flour mixture. Without crowding, carefully place pork in hot oil. (If necessary, cook in batches.) Fry until cooked through and golden brown on both sides, turning once; about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the pork to paper towels. In a separate skillet, heat the butter over medium heat.  Stir the bacon and cook for 3-5 minutes. Add the artichokes, and capers into the bacon and continue to cook until the bacon is done.

To serve, place pasta in a large bowl. Stir the bacon mixture into the pasta. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Stir in lemon butter sauce. Toss well, add pork chop on top of pasta and enjoy.

Fry until golden brown!

This recipe is not for someone looking for a healthy meal, but it is incredibly tasty.  Take the time to do most of your prep work before you start. This meal doesn't take a super long time to make, maybe an hour, but as you can see from the picture below, if you want it all to come out hot and together, there will be some multi-tasking.  For best results, grab a helper to stir here or cut there as necessary to relieve the burden.  My gorgeous wife was more than helpful last night in making this wonderful dinner.  I hope you like it as much as my family does.  Just remember, taste is relative!

Four things working at once!