Tuesday, 4 June 2013

Mother's Day Dinner 2013

This year's Mother's Day, I didn't want to buy her clothes or kitchenware. I felt that cooking her (and my entire family) a nice meal was a better present; one that she'd enjoy and appreciate more than just a simple store bought gift. 

1) Appetizer
Tomato Bruschetta; a simple and easy appetizer! 

Is it yummy?
Bruschetta is one popular appetizer served at dinners; but it's popular for a reason! It's a simple dish that is easy to prepare but it's still jammed pack with refreshing flavours! If you want something easy and quick to make for guests, definitely follow this recipe. 

Suggestions
Like I said like 3 times now, it's simple! Definitely add your own twists to this dish and make it your own :) 

Difficulties
Being a university student, I'm not a great cook and I didn't know how to "dice" tomatoes SO I had to Youtube about it lol!

Recipe

2) Main Dish

I decided to cook Pork Chops Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach and I found this recipe on the Food Network Website (what a surprise).

Is it yummy?
My family LOVED this dish, especially the spinach and sun dried tomato filling. I had extra filling left and my brother loved it so much that he just took the filling and ate it by itself! I would DEFINITELY recommend this dish for any occasion where you want to impress your guests or just want something juicy and scrumptious :) 

Suggestions
a) The recipe calls for centre cut pork chops. When I went to the supermarket, these specific pork chop cuts were more expensive than other pork chop cuts. So being Asian, I decided to go for the cheaper cut and it turned out perfectly fine. It doesn't really matter what type of pork chop cut you get, as long as it is thick enough for you to slice a pocket inside. 

b) The recipe says to just cook the pork on a pan; 4 minutes each side. I found it better to cook the pork for 2 minutes on each side to get that nice golden colour and then finish it in the oven at 350 degrees. This way, the pork doesn't get too dry and it stays nice and juicy :) 

c) There is a lot of cheese that is suggested in this recipe. My family is not a big fan of cheese so I decided to take out the goat cheese but still use some cream cheese and the dish came out fine! If you're not a big fan of cheese (or want to reduce calories and fat) take out the goat cheese and you can even take out the cream cheese. Just make sure you have an ingredient/alternative that can combine/glue the filling together 

Difficulties
The thought of making a pocket in a pork chop was scary and I found it really hard in the beginning. After watching a Youtube video and slicing one pork chop, I got the hang of it and it wasn't that difficult after all! 

Recipe: 
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/pork-chops-stuffed-with-sun-dried-tomatoes-and-spinach-recipe/index.html

Overall, this was a successful meal and surprisingly easy. If you guys have time this summer, definitely try and make the pork chops!






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