In the Kitchen With Mattie

 

We had an old standby tonight, breaded pork chops with Mac and Cheese. The kids used to like this meal when they were small, the older two boys still do but the youngest doesn’t eat too much of a variety of foods anymore so I think he’d only eat the Mac and Cheese at this point in time. You may be saying that I cook awful big portions for our dinner as there are only 2 of us home anymore, but I cook planning on hubby taking a nice lunch the next day instead of eating at Mickey D’s or other fast food place, he does prefer to eat the things I make at home and I am glad of that.

                                                      Breaded Pork Chops

4-6 bone in center cut pork chops, soaked in brine for 1 hour, 1/2 cup salt in one gallon water

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, about 1/2 teaspoon of each

oil for sheet pan, about 1/4 cup

Take pork from brine and coat with bread crumbs, place on sheet pan coated with the oil, and place into an oven that has been pre heated to 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes depending on how thick your chops are. Check with a thermometer and bring up to 155 degrees, remove from oven and let sit loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes.

                                         Macaroni and Cheese

6 ounces of elbow or other small size pasta

4 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 cups sharp cheddar, shredded

1 cup fontina, shredded

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Boil pasta and when al dente, drain and rinse in cool water drain again, set aside. Mix all the cheese together and set aside 1 cup of the  cheese mixture for later. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan heat the butter and when it is bubbling add the flour and the salt, peppers and mustard, cook for 3 minutes,  keep stirring, add the milk and cream little by little and continue cooking until the mixture comes to a low boil and is thickened up. Take the mixture off the heat and add the sherry, add the cheeses to the sauce (keeping the 1 cup aside), mix well until the cheese is melted. Add the drained macaroni to the sauce and mix again, divide into two small casseroles and top with the cheese that was set aside, sprinkle with a little paparika and heat in the oven until the tops browns. You can also top these with a little buttered crumbs for a crunchy top.