Intro: Welcome, welcome everybody to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes, you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: All right. If you’ve been around here and around Mom’s Dinner for a while, then you know that enchiladas are one of my absolute favorites. I love enchiladas. I love red enchilada sauce. My mouth is watering now. I love ordering enchiladas at a Mexican restaurants. We have one here in Kansas City where I can get, I think it’s called a tres amigos, and it’s three enchiladas and it’s a chicken enchilada, a cheese enchilada, and a beef enchilada, and all three of them have different sauce. It’s the best Mexican dinner ever. 

So you know that I’m passionate about enchiladas. However, what I will say is that enchiladas are not super easy to make at home. At least I don’t find them that easy to make at home. Now, if you use flour tortillas, absolutely. Easy, done, in and out. If you want to use corn tortillas, I feel there’s just that extra layer, or are they going to crack, are they going to split? Are they going to fall apart? Is this going to work? A whole nother level of difficulty. That’s why I made this awesome recipe for an enchilada skillet, because you can still get all of those enchilada flavors, including the traditional corn tortillas, and it’s simple and anxiety free, just what we want at dinnertime. Anxiety-free enchiladas. 

So this recipe only has about seven ingredients, and of course, there are some ways that you can customize the recipe that we’ll talk about while we’re going through the full recipe, and it’s only going to take you about 30 minutes to make. Super easy, super fast, weeknight-friendly dinner. 

Enchilada Skillet Recipe: I don’t have a lot of tips for this recipe, so I think we’ll just get into making the full recipe right now. The one piece of equipment that you’re going to want to make sure you have is a high-sided skillet. Probably a 10 to 12-inch skillet that has a lid that will fit. I’ve made this in a non-stick skillet and just a stainless steel pan and they both work fine. So whatever you have that’s large, high sides with a lid, will work here.

You’re going to start with that pan over about medium heat. You’re going to add one cup of diced onions. I love to use white onions in most of my Mexican recipes. Then three chopped garlic cloves. Go ahead and saute that for about five minutes until the onions are nice and soft. Now, if you want to add the variation of ground beef, you can add ground beef at this point and crumble it and cook it through while you soften the onions. The only extra step that you want to add if you add the beef is making sure you drain off any grease before you move on. 

So the next step is you’re going to pour in one cup of chicken broth and two 10-ounce cans of red enchilada sauce. Now if you’re going to make your own enchilada sauce and add it here, you’ll want about two and a half cups of homemade enchilada sauce. Just bring that to a boil over about medium heat. Then after it starts to boil, you’ll lower the heat back down to low and you’re going to nestle in corn tortillas right into the sauce. So what I like to do is take 12 to 15 corn tortillas and just quarter them, so that it’s in pie slices. Then take two or three at a time and just nestle them right down in the sauce.

Now you’ll want to go ahead and put that lid on the pan and simmer the whole enchilada for about 10 minutes. Then you’ll remove the lid and you’re going to  sprinkle in about one and a half cups of shredded cheese. Two things with the cheese. Use any flavor you want. If you want to use pepper jack, Monterey Jack, Colby Jack, Cheddar, whatever you like, or whatever you have, go ahead and use it.

The other tip is with shredded cheese, it’s always best to shred your own cheese. The pre-shredded cheese, it’ll work, absolutely 100%, and I definitely have used it. But it usually has preservatives and anti-clumping agents on the cheese that prevent it from melting as creamy as a hand shredded cheese.

So go ahead after you put the cheese on the enchiladas. Pop the lid back on and simmer for about five more minutes until the cheese is nice and melted and gooey and yummy. Remove the entire pan from the heat and let it sit uncovered for about five minutes before serving. This is going to be just like lasagna or traditional enchiladas. You just want to let it sit and kind of come together and solidify before you serve it. 

Now when you are serving, I’d love to add some toppings to this enchilada skillet. You can do sour cream, fresh, chopped avocados, green onions, cilantro, jalapenos, or whatever your favorite Mexican-style toppings are, go ahead and add them here.

Now as far as side dishes go, I recommend adding Mexican rice, and then if you didn’t add beans to the enchilada skillet, then my 15-minute refried beans are an excellent side dish as well. If you’re trying to make it a larger dinner, I also have a wonderful recipe for a cilantro, honey pineapple that is a delicious, fresh Mexican side dish. Then, of course, margaritas. Hello. Of course, you need a margarita. 

As always, I will link all of those recipes right in the show notes for you. So when you are ready to make an enchilada skillet for dinner, you’ll have everything you need. 

That does it for today’s episode. If you are enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you follow or subscribe to your preferred podcast player. That will just make it easier for you to find all of our future episodes right in your podcast feed.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes sure dinnertime a little easier. See ya.

Intro: Welcome, welcome everybody to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. That is our promise and guarantee to you. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Today I’m super excited to share this recipe with you. We have a restaurant here in Kansas City where I’m located, called Garozzo’s, that serves really authentic down-home Italian food. The first time that I had Chicken Spiedini was at Garozzo’s and it blew my mind. It was super delicious. It’s basically marinated chicken pieces that are rolled in breadcrumbs and then skewered and baked, and they’re served with either a red sauce, a cream sauce, or a lemon garlic butter sauce. Delicious. I will tell you, it is a wonderful dinner to serve if you love Italian-style dinners, but maybe you want something that’s not pasta. This is an excellent, excellent option. 

So the word Spiedini is obviously an Italian word and the word Spiedini actually translates to skewer in English. So we are going to be skewing up some chicken here and serving it for dinner.

But first I will tell you this is not a quick dinner. This isn’t something you’re gonna choose to have at five o’clock and have it ready by six. You actually have to marinate the chicken. So you want to plan ahead for this dinner. This is a great one to maybe prep on Sunday and plan for Monday or to prep on Saturday and have a nice Sunday family dinner.

Tips and Tricks: A few tips before we get started on this recipe. We’re obviously using chicken in this recipe, and this is a tip that I share anytime I’m using chicken. I like to use something called air-chilled chicken. That’s not a brand, it’s actually a method of processing the chicken. Here in the Midwest, we have something called smart chicken, and that’s what I tend to use because I know that it’s air chilled. Basically, the process is that after the chicken is processed, there are two different ways that they can cool the chicken down for packaging. The traditional method is that it is held in or dunked in chlorinated cold baths. When they do that, not only are they probably taking on some chemicals, but they’re definitely absorbing more water. When you introduce water, you’re reducing flavor. So that is no bueno. The air-chilled method is actually where they hang the processed chicken and they run it through cooled rooms, so air chilled. By doing that, it cools down slower. It retains its flavor. It doesn’t take on extra moisture, and it helps preserve a nice texture when you cook your chicken. If you’ve ever had chicken that had a weird texture after it was cooked, you can avoid that by purchasing air-chilled chicken. I think it’s probably a more expensive and labor-intensive process because your air-chilled chicken is going to be more expensive. I’m telling you right now, it is worth it. If a brand uses air chilling, it will say it right on the front of the package. 

The other ingredient that I want to talk about is the breadcrumbs. So for this recipe, we’re using just a traditional Italian-style bread. There’s traditional breadcrumbs and then there’s panko breadcrumbs. Panko is a coarser, grittier, texture, larger chunk. You don’t want that. You want that fine traditional breadcrumb, and usually, you can find them in the grocery store as plain or as Italian. For this recipe, I do prefer an Italian-style seasoned breadcrumb. Now, if you don’t have that if you just have plain, what you can do is add a tablespoon of Italian seasoning to the breadcrumbs, and you have Italian breadcrumbs. So you can do it either way.

The next tip is about white wine. I’ve shared this in previous episodes. I don’t drink a ton of white wine in my house. I prefer red wine, so when a recipe calls for white wine, I generally don’t have it on hand. Until I figured this out. You can freeze white wine. If you’re just going to be using it in cooking, you can absolutely freeze it. It will stay good for about six months. So what I do is, I buy it in a carton. I’m not talking about a box. It’s more like a three-serving carton. I pour out what I need and then I flip the top up so it creates more room in the bottle. Put the lid on, put it in the freezer, and it will freeze up into like a slushy consistency. Like I said, it’ll be good for six months. 

All right, so those are all of my tips. Let’s get into making this chicken Spiedini for dinner. 

Chicken Spiedini Recipe: There are going to be three basic areas of making your Chicken Spiedini. So you’re gonna marinate, that’s gonna take 24, you can go all the way to 48 hours. The next step is going to be assembling the Chicken Spiedini and baking. The last step is gonna be making your Amogio sauce for serving, and then that’s it. 

So let’s start with the marinade. I like to just use a plastic bag when I marinate this chicken. So you’ll start with one and a half to two pounds of boneless skinless chicken breast, and you’re going to cut it into about one-and-a-half-inch pieces. Go ahead and pop that in your plastic baggie. Then you’re going to add two teaspoons of lemon zest, a quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil, a quarter cup of water, and a quarter cup of white. A three-quarters teaspoon of kosher salt, and then you’re going to add four garlic cloves that are just crushed, so you’re not going to be chopping the garlic. I like to just take the blunt side of a knife, press down on that on top of the garlic and crack the garlic open. That will release enough of their flavor and oil into the marinade to give that garlic flavor without being overwhelming. 

So close that baggie up and pop it in the fridge for about 24 hours. You can go all the way up to 48 hours if you want to or if you need to. 

Now, when it’s time to assemble and bake your skewers, you want to start by preheating your oven to 400 degrees, and then grab a large rimmed baking sheet and cover it with foil and give it a good spray with non-stick spray. Now you want to make sure you prep your skewers. If you’re using metal skewers, you’re good to go. If you’re using wooden skewers, I recommend soaking them in a little bit of water while you are breading the chicken. 

So go ahead and pull that chicken out of the fridge and you’re going to set up a little assembly line. So you’re gonna have the chicken in the marinade on one side. In the middle, you’re gonna place a plate with one cup of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs, and then a plate on the end that’s lined with a paper towel. 

To start, you’ll remove about three to four pieces of chicken from the marinade. Pop them on the breading, roll them all around in those breadcrumbs, and make sure they’re coated on all sides. Then place those on the paper towel-lined plate. Then you go ahead and repeat with all of the chicken until it’s complete. If you have any marinade left in that Ziploc baggy, you can go ahead and discard that. 

Now it’s time to skewer the chicken. I like putting about five pieces of chicken per skewer and pushing them close together so it kind of looks like one long piece. You should have about six to eight skewers when you’re done. Place all of those on the foil-lined baking sheet, and then you’ll take that non-stick spray and spray the tops of the chicken skewers. 

You’ll bake it at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Then after 15 minutes, flip the skewers and bake on the other side for about 10 more minutes. You want to make sure that your skewers are cooked through to 165-degree internal temperature.

Now while they are baking, you can absolutely make your Amogio sauce. You will just take a small saucepan and pop it over medium, medium-low heat. Add four tablespoons of butter and four tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. You definitely want the extra virgin olive oil here because it has that nutty, buttery, olivey flavor that you want in your sauce. You’ll also add a healthy pinch of kosher salt and red pepper flakes. If you really love garlic, you can absolutely add one minced garlic clove as well. 

Now, let that all melt together and as soon as it’s melted together, you will remove it from the heat and add one tablespoon of finely chopped Italian parsley and two and a half tablespoons of lemon juice. You can give it a taste for additional seasoning, and then what you’ll do is you’ll serve your chicken Spiedini skewers, one to two skewers per person, and a little bit of the Amogio sauce either drizzled over the top of the skewers, or you can serve it on the side and people can dip it in as they wish. 

Now I will say that I have also served these Chicken Spiedini skewers with a basil pesto drizzled over top, or even just a marinara sauce. Any of those will work. 

That does it for the full recipe for your chicken Spiedini with Amogio sauce. Really, you can tell that once the chicken is marinated, the recipe is quite easy. So you could absolutely make it during the week. You just have to plan ahead by a day or two. 

Now when I serve this Chicken Spiedini for dinner, we love to have a little bit of pasta on the side. Maybe a green vegetable or a green salad, and some garlic bread. It makes an excellent Italian dinner. 

As always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes. If you’re enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you subscribe or follow and rate and review the show in your preferred podcast player.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes sure dinner time a little easier.

Susie Weinrich: Welcome on in Y’all, to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. That’s my guarantee. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

All right, I’m calling in all of my die-hard Instant Pot fans. Where are you at? You’re going to want this recipe today we’re making.

One of my favorites, it’s probably one of my favorites, and it is a classic Swedish meatball recipe made in your instant pot. We’re talking a delicious beef meatball that has all of their classic Swedish meatball flavors that are going to be cooked in your instant pot and then coated in this delicious, thick Swedish meatball gravy sauce that you’re going to want to eat with a spoon. I highly recommend you serve these over, my mouth is watering. I highly recommend you serve these over mashed potatoes or a cooked egg noodle with a little garlic butter. Your family’s going to love these. 

Tips and Tricks: So let’s talk about a couple of different tips that I want to share about this recipe that you can use in your kitchen all the time.

One of them has to do with ground meat recipes, and we’ve talked about this before, making a panade to make sure that your meatballs stay nice and tender, and juicy. A panade is your best friend. I use a panade anytime I’m making burgers, meatballs, meatloaf, almost anything that is a ground meat recipe where the meat is coming together. Basically, a panade is just a starch and a liquid that gets added to that mixture. In this recipe, we’re using a mixture of Panko breadcrumbs and then egg and milk, and it keeps your meatballs super tender and super perfect. Another great tip, is when you’re forming meatballs, if you have a medium-sized cookie scoop in your kitchen, I highly recommend using it for meatballs as well. Because then you’re going to get a nice uniform-sized meatball, which who cares about their appearance, really? What you want is something that’s going to cook evenly all the way across. So it’s not like you’re going to have a tiny meatball that’s done in two minutes and then you have a huge meatball that’s going to be needing 15 minutes to cook. Everything will be the same size and cooked at the same rate. 

Okay, so those are the meatball tips. Let’s talk about some tips with your instant pot. I swear to you that different models of instant pots are more sensitive to burn warnings. I think I have one of the very older models that never gets a burn warning. Because then I will have some people make the same recipe in their newer instant pots and say that they got the burn warning. So I really do think that it is a sensitivity based on your model. This also may be crazy, but from my experience, that’s the case. What I recommend is spraying the bottom of your Instant Pot with a non-stick spray before you start your recipe. You could use this almost for any recipe, especially if you have a very sensitive Instant Pot. The burn notice is basically when something is cooking to the bottom of your Instant Pot and it’s getting little hot pockets and then that gives you the burn warning. 

Another tip with your Instant Pot. So I work with the Six Quart Instant Pot Nine and One Duo Plus, I think. I think that’s the model. There are a lot of words. But on my Instant Pot you have sauteed mode, and if you just press it once, it’s just at normal, it’s normal heat. You can press it again and it will go too high. That is going to be like browning wok-style cooking. If you hit it again, it will go to low, which is more of just keeping things warm, and then press it again, it will go back to normal. And that’s just like your sauteing, melting butter, that type of heat. Okay, so those are all of my tips. So let’s get into the Instant Pot Swedish meatball recipe. 

Instant Pot Swedish Meatballs Recipe: There are basically three different sections to this recipe. You’re going to be making a meatball, then we’re going to cook it in a liquid in the instant pot, and then we’re going to remove the meatballs and make the gravy with the sauce that it cooked in.

So to get started, let’s make the meatballs. In a large bowl, you are going to want to make your panada. You’re going to stir together one egg that’s lightly beaten. Two tablespoons of milk and then half a cup of panko breadcrumbs. Mix that together and let it sit and soften just for a couple of minutes. Then to the panade, you want to add a quarter cup of yellow or white onions that are finally diced, three garlic cloves that are minced, and one tablespoon of fresh parsley that has been chopped. Then for spices, you’ll add a quarter teaspoon of each – ground allspice and ground nutmeg, a quarter teaspoon of black pepper, and one a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Stir that all together. Then the last thing we add, anytime we’re making meatballs, the last thing we add is the meat.

So add one pound of ground beef, either an 85 or a 90% lean will work really nice here. Then one pound of ground pork. We’re not talking about sausage here, it’s just straight-up ground pork. Then either with clean hands or with a fork, go ahead and mix everything together so that you have a nice meatball mixture.

Like I said in the tip section, this is a great time to use a medium-sized cookie scoop to make sure that all of your meatballs are the same size. So go ahead and form your meatballs into about a ping-pong or golf ball-sized meatball. You should have around 20 to 24 meatballs and you can set those aside for now.

We are going to turn our attention to the Instant Pot. So, like I said before, if you have a sensitive Instant Pot, go ahead and spray the bottom with a little non-stick spray, and then you’re going to pour in three cups of beef broth and two tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce. Then go ahead and take all of those meatballs and place them down into the instant pot, into the liquid. It’s okay if you need to pile some on top of each other, just do it gently so they don’t smash. Then you’ll close the lid of your instant pot, turn the pressure valve to seal, and cook on high pressure for eight minutes. In the end, you’ll finish with a five-minute natural release. Then at the end of that five minutes, go ahead and turn that pressure valve and let all of the steam escape. Then open up the pot and then with a slotted spoon, you’ll remove all of those meatballs to a separate bowl or a rimmed baking sheet. Because now we’re going to make that delicious Swedish meatball gravy. 

Start by turning the saute mode on your instant pot, and you want it just on normal or low. Make sure it’s not on high heat. Then you’re going to whisk in one and a half teaspoons of Dijon mustard, one teaspoon of kosher salt, and one cup of heavy cream. You’ll just let that all heat through together and lightly simmer for about two to three minutes. Now while that simmers, you’re going to make something called, and I hope I say this right, a Beurre Manié, and what that is, is a French word for a mash of flour and butter. So instead of a roux, which is something you make before you add the liquid, a Beurre Manié is something that you add after the liquid has already been heated. 

So you take four tablespoons of salted butter that are softened but not melted, and a quarter cup plus one tablespoon of all-purpose flour, and put it together in a little bowl and mash it together with a fork until it all comes together in one paste.

While your sauce is simmering, you’ll take a whisk and whisk that butter-flour mixture into the liquid until it’s completely dissolved and it should thicken up that sauce pretty quickly. Once the sauce is as thick as you would like it, you can turn the saute mode off, add the meatballs, and any juices that collected with the meatballs, back into the pot. Give it a stir to coat the meatballs and it is time to eat. 

While all this is going on and you’re making your Swedish meatballs, if you have two instant pots, if you’re a true pothead, then you can absolutely make my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes to serve these Swedish meatballs on top of. If you only have one instant pot, then I would recommend making my Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes which are just made on the stovetop, and they make a great base for this dish as well.

Now if you just listen to this entire recipe and you’re like, well, I don’t even have an instant pot. Totally okay. I have a very similar recipe to make these classic Swedish meatballs on the stovetop, and I will link that in the show notes for you. 

So when it’s time to serve these, you will just take a plate, make a nice little bed of mashed potatoes, and then serve 3, 4, or 5 meatballs per person, and then spoon extra gravy over top of the potatoes and the meatballs. Then we like to just have a green veggie on the side, something like green beans or roasted asparagus or peas. 

That does it for the whole entire recipe. So of course, as always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes so you can make it for dinner when you are ready.

If you are enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you rate and review our show. As a newer show, it just helps us show up for more people on all the podcast platforms. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. That’s my guarantee. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Who’s ready for a super easy dinner recipe that you can get done in 30 minutes? It’s pretty much kid-friendly, especially if your kid’s like fish sticks. But we have some elevated components that make it delicious for adults. We’re making fish stick tacos with a jalapeno tartar sauce and a cilantro lime slaw. It’s going to be delicious, y’all. You’re going to love it. 

Tips and Tricks: So let’s talk about fish sticks. You can absolutely make your own fish sticks. I actually have a recipe for crispy oven-baked fish sticks that I will link in the show notes for you. But if you have a really good fish stick that you can buy at the store, why not take that shortcut? I know that Costco has an excellent fish stick. It’s the Trident Panko breaded fish stick. It’s whole filet fish, so it’s not the minced fish. So it’s very good quality. Now, if you don’t have a Costco membership and you’re just going to your local grocery store or Target, what you’re going to want to look for is a crispy breading like the ones at Costco. They have a Panko crumb on them, so it’s definitely going to be crispier. You also want to look for something that says whole filet or fish filet instead of minced fish right on the package. It should say it on the package if the package also says haddock or cod, or actually names the fish that they use, even better. Most fish sticks are going to be made with some kind of white-fleshed firm fish. 

The other component of this recipe is the jalapeno tartar sauce. Now if you’re feeding kids, I will also link in there my just regular tartar sauce recipe. But if you’re like, I need to just get dinner on the table, I’m not trying to make homemade tartar sauce, you could absolutely just buy a quality tartar sauce at the grocery and call it good. 

As far as the slaw goes, I would still recommend making the slaw for these tacos. It’s very simple to make. You probably have a lot of the ingredients already in your kitchen. Definitely take the shortcut of buying that pre-made slaw mix, not with dressing on it, just the slaw mix that has the carrots, the cabbage, and the red cabbage all mixed together, right in a bag.

All right. The last tip that I have for this recipe is that you can actually make the tartar sauce and the slaw a day ahead. So if you want to plan this for a Monday, and maybe on Sunday you have a little bit more time, you could absolutely prep those two things ahead, pop them in the fridge, and then when it comes to dinner time, all you have to do is bake your fish sticks, but you still have a really delicious dinner.

Before you get started, my number one tip when you make these three recipes, the fish sticks, the cilantro lime slaw, and the jalapeno tartar sauce, is that you multitask through the recipe. So get the fish sticks in the oven, and then while that’s baking, make the slaw. While that sets and marinates, make the jalapeno tartar sauce, and then everything will come together at once. 

Fish Stick Taco Recipe: So let’s get on to the full recipe. You’re going to start by getting those fish sticks in the oven and just baking them per package instructions. The next step is I recommend making your cilantro lime slaw so that that can marinate a little bit while you make the tartar sauce.

So for the cilantro lime slaw, you’re going to need three cups of a shredded slaw mix. Like I said, buy that at the grocery. Then combine that with a quarter cup of red onions, a quarter cup of chopped fresh cilantro, and one fresh jalapeno that you finely dice. Here’s the tip with jalapeno. If you like very little heat, only use the outer green parts. If you like medium heat, remove the seeds and just use the green parts with the white pith, ribbing that’s on the inside of the jalapeno. If you want Wowza heat, use the whole thing except for the stem. 

Then in a small bowl, you’ll want to combine one tablespoon of olive oil, one tablespoon of honey, and two tablespoons of fresh lime juice, and then add in a three-quarters teaspoon of kosher salt and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Whisk that all together, and then pour that over the cabbage and toss it to coat. Now you can use it immediately, or as I said before, you can make it ahead and use it 12 to 24 hours later. 

So while that’s sitting and marinating, we’re going to get to the jalapeno tartar sauce. This again is super easy. The one piece of equipment that you’re going to need for this is either a strong blender or some kind of food processor.

To the blender, you’re going to add three quarters, a cup of mayonnaise, a quarter cup of pickled jalapeno peppers, two heaping tablespoons of red onion, two heaping tablespoons of fresh cilantro, two tablespoons of capers, one fresh garlic clove, and then two teaspoons of fresh lime juice. You will process this for about 15 seconds so that it all comes together and any big pieces are chopped down. You don’t need it to be a smooth paste. You can still have a few small little pieces in there. Again, with this one, you can use it right away or you can refrigerate it for up to five days. So you can make this one way ahead if you need to. 

Make sure that you have the fish sticks baked and it’s time for assembly. You can use corn tortillas or flour tortillas, and what I recommend is just letting everybody kind of make their own. You just pile in a little bit of that slaw in the bottom of your tortilla. Add about three or four fish sticks, and then drizzle with that jalapeno tartar sauce. You are going to love it and you are going to be amazed at how easy fish tacos can be.

Since this is such an easy recipe, I definitely recommend keeping the side dishes really simple as well. You could definitely do Mexican rice, you could do a store-bought or have a great recipe for stove-top Mexican rice or instant pot Mexican rice. If you love refried beans, I have a wonderful recipe for a 15-minute refried beans. Since you have the oven on already for the fish sticks, you could just mix that up and pop it right in the oven. Or you could always just add a side of chips with salsa and guacamole and call it good. 

That does it for today’s episode of Let’s Make Dinner. Of course, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you so you can make this for dinner whenever you are ready. 

If you’re loving these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you subscribe or follow in your preferred podcast player. That will just make it easier for you to find all of our future episodes right in your podcast feed.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table, and that is my promise to you. I’m your host Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: The minute there is even a cold breeze blowing through my yard, I am going to be running to the kitchen to make this soup recipe for dinner. It is thick and creamy and exactly what you want at the end of the summer or at the very beginning of fall. We’re talking about a fresh, creamy, and delicious corn chowder recipe. 

So let me tell you what my idea of a really delicious corn chowder recipe is. It is thick and creamy, yet with still somewhat of a broth consistency. It has a really robust flavor of corn, as well as obviously fresh corn on the cob kernels of corn. It also might have some potato and some crispy bacon and sour cream on top, and definitely some chopped green onions. That is the definition of my very favorite corn chowder, and that is the definition, an explanation, of this recipe that we’re going to make today.

Tips and Tricks: A couple of things that I really love about this recipe is, number one, it’s made with fresh corn on the cob. You’re going to cut that corn off and you’re going to get so much flavor. The other thing is that you’re going to have a triple corn flavor. You get the fresh corn on the cob, and then we turn our knife over and we’re going to scrape those cobs and you get all of the corn pulp as well as something called corn milk, and that has a ton of fresh corn flavor. Then the third part, that’s going to give you just a little bit more corn flavor as well as thicken the broth, is by adding some corn meal at the end of the recipe. This is a great trick anytime you’re making a soup that either has corn in it or would pair nicely with a corn flavor. If it’s a little too brothy, you can add a little corn meal and maybe some half-and-half at the end of the soup and it will thicken it up perfectly.

I do the same trick with potato flakes. So obviously we’re not making mashed potatoes with potato flakes here in the, Let’s Make Dinner kitchen but potato flakes are amazing for thickening soup. So if you’re like, eh, I don’t really want to use cornmeal, you could absolutely use potato flakes here too. 

Corn Chowder Recipe: So let’s get straight into making this recipe. First of all, you’re going to need about five to six ears of fresh corn on the cob. You can absolutely make it with frozen corn. There are just a few changes that you need to do, and if you look in the show notes of this recipe, you’ll find a link to the full printable recipe, and it has all of the notes you need to use frozen corn instead of fresh corn.

But for the purpose of this podcast, we’re going to make it with fresh corn on the cob. So you want to start by placing your corn on the cob, either on a rimmed baking sheet, or if you have a bundt pan, you can use that middle tube, rest your corn on the cob on that, and then cut right down on the cob and the corn will all fall into the bundt pan. That’s a great kitchen tip anytime you have to remove corn from the cob. So you’ll want to make sure that you remove all that corn, then you’re going to turn your knife over to the blunt side and scrape it along those cobs. What you’re going to be removing is the pulp of the corn that’s kind of stuck further down in the cob, as well as this milky juice that will come out of the corn cob. You want all of that. That is mega corn flavor. 

So once you get all of that done, set that aside. Then you’re going to take a huge pot and put it over medium heat on the stovetop. You’re going to crisp up six pieces of diced bacon. This is a great place to use your kitchen shears actually and cut your bacon just into little half-inch pieces. Pop it in that pan, get it nice and crispy, and then use a slotted spoon and remove the bacon from that pan. You’ll want to reserve about two to three tablespoons of that bacon grease because we’re going to use it to saute the onions and the garlic next. So then you’re going to take one yellow or white onion that has been chopped, and three garlic cloves that have been chopped, and saute those over about medium heat in that two to three tablespoons of bacon grease. Saute it for about five minutes. Then you’re going to add in a four-ounce can of diced green chilies and two teaspoons of chicken base. If you’ve never used chicken base, it’s like the adult version of chicken bouillon. It’s super flavorful. It actually adds chicken flavor to your recipe. I like to use a brand called Better Than Bouillon, which it is better than Bouillon. It comes in a jar and it’s kind of a paste. So add two teaspoons of that chicken base and stir it around the pot. Then you’re going to pour in 32 ounces of chicken broth, all of that corn that you scraped off the cob and the pulp and the milk. Then add in two cups of Yukon gold potatoes that are peeled and cut into about a half-inch dice, half a teaspoon of Lawry season salt, a half a teaspoon of black pepper. Bring that up to a boil over about medium-high heat. Then as soon as it starts to boil, you’re going to turn the heat to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. 

Once that’s done, you’ll remove two and a half cups of the soup and blend it in a food processor or a blender. You want to be careful when you’re blending up hot ingredients that the lid of the blender or the food processor doesn’t blow off because of the buildup of pressure. Now add that puree back to the soup and give it a good stir. You’ll see that your soup is starting to come together and starting to thicken up.

Finally, you want to whisk in one cup of half and half, half a cup of sour cream, and three tablespoons of cornmeal. Then you’ll just want to let it cook over low heat for about another 10 minutes so that cornmeal can cook into the soup and let it thicken up a little bit. In the end, you just want to taste for additional seasoning and salt. Let it cool for about five minutes and then you can go ahead and serve. 

When you serve this corn chowder, I recommend that you put some sour cream, that crispy bacon that we crisped up at the very beginning of the recipe, some chopped green onions, and maybe some hot sauce or Tabasco, and people can load up their soup however they want.

Now, a couple of troubleshooting tips for this recipe. If you feel like your soup is a little bit too thin, you can absolutely add another tablespoon or two of the cornmeal and let it simmer for another five to 10 minutes. Or like I said at the beginning of the recipe, you can add in just a couple tablespoons of potato flakes and let those cook in, and that will definitely thicken it up really nicely. Now, if your soup is too thick, you will want to pour in a little extra half-and-half or broth and let it warm through until it’s your desired consistency. 

As far as side dishes go, when we have soup here, we like to keep the side dishes super, super simple. So if you want to stick with that corn flavor, you could add some corn muffins, some sweet cornbread, or buttermilk cornbread on the side. If you want to add a veggie, you could absolutely do just like a green side salad. I have a great recipe for a Basil Vinaigrette that I’ll link in the show notes for you that would be perfect with this dish. Or we’ll just do some crusty warm bread like Ciabatta or maybe some kettle-cooked chips, just like they serve at Panera, and have that on the side.

So that does it for today’s episode of Let’s Make Dinner. As always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you so you can find them when you’re ready to make dinner. 

If you’re loving these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you either rate and review or follow and subscribe to our show.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

038 Skillet Mac and Cheese_final

Intro: Hey there everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can get on the table any night of the week. That’s my promise and guarantee. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Today I have an excellent little recipe for you that makes a wonderful kid-friendly. But it also makes a killer side dish that’s great for like anything that has those barbecue flavors, like ribs or barbecue meatballs, or it’s great with anything that comes off of your grill. We are making an easy One Skillet Mac and Cheese. Now this recipe, it’s made in one pan. There’s no draining involved, there’s no flour. It’s just your classic mac and cheese flavors, old school. We’re talking elbow mac, Velveeta cheese, milk, butter, and salt. That’s it, people. I’m going to go over exactly how to put that together to make a super creamy mac and cheese. 

Tips and Tricks: Before we get started on the full recipe, let’s talk about a couple of ingredients and some equipment that you’re going to need. You definitely want to have a really large skillet. We’re talking like a nine to 12-inch skillet that definitely has a lid. It doesn’t matter if it’s a non-stick or stainless steel pan. I’ve made it in both and both work. But you have to have a lid that fits well. This is not the time when you can use a sheet pan as a lid because we’ve all been there. I just did it on vacation. We had some really wonky supplies in the house we were staying in, and sure enough, I had to use a sheet pan as a lid. This is not the time for that trick. You definitely want a lid that fits really well. 

The other thing is we are using Velveeta cheese, loaf cheese, and people. There is a time and a place for this loaf cheese and mac and cheese is it. It’s just the same as potato flakes, instant mashed potatoes. I’m not making those for the holidays, but they are killer soup recipes. So there’s a time and place for all these ingredients that we make fun of. Velveeta cheese belongs in mac and cheese. If you don’t agree, this is not your recipe.

The other thing that we use in this recipe is Lawry’s Seasoned Salt. You know, I used to call it seasoning salt, and then I had somebody comment on my blog. It is not seasoning salt. It’s seasoned salt. It says it right on the bottle. Sure enough, it’s seasoned salt. So if you don’t use Lawry’s or you don’t have it, you certainly can just sub in regular kosher salt.

Skillet Mac and Cheese Recipe: So let’s get on to making the full recipe for your One Skillet Easy Creamy Cheesy Mac and Cheese. Okay, you’re going to start with that large skillet with the lid that we talked about in the tip section. You’re going to put that over medium-high heat and add two and three-quarters cups of water, and one teaspoon of kosher salt. Let that come to a hard simmer. Then you’re going to pour in two and a half cups of elbow macaroni. Let that come to a pretty decent hard simmer or a boil, and then turn the heat down to low, pop that lid on, and set a timer for 10 minutes. Now while that is simmering, if it starts to bubble out of the lid, just lift the lid really quickly and then set it back on and it should subside.

After that 10 minutes, you’re going to take the lid off and give the pan a stir. There should be a little bit of water left in the pan, and that’s totally okay. It will thicken up once we add the cheese and the milk. So turn the heat back up to medium and you’re going to stir in half a cup of milk. I recommend 2% or whole milk here just because it has a little bit more fat content than a skim or a one percent. 

Then add eight ounces of Velveeta cheese that you have cubed into a half-inch or one-inch cubes, a quarter teaspoon of that Lawry’s Seasoned Salt, and one tablespoon of salted butter. You’re going to stir that and stir that over the medium heat for a few minutes until the cheese is completely melted into the macaroni.

Now, remove it from the heat and let it sit for just a few minutes for it to thicken up and come together. I tested this recipe many times. Sometimes I liked a little extra seasoning salt, and then sometimes I didn’t. You want to taste it before you serve it, and if you feel like you want a little more salt, then go ahead and add it. Salt can be very personal, and you may like it a little, you may like it a lot, but once you add too much, you cannot take it out. 

If you’re going to serve the mac and cheese as a full entree, what I recommend adding on the side are just apple slices, cucumber slices, and maybe some carrot sticks with ranch or a blue cheese dip. Or you could do roasted broccoli, roasted asparagus, roasted carrots, whatever your family likes, whatever veggie your family likes, whatever the kids will eat. You could also add a green side salad with just a light vinaigrette or ranch dressing. 

Now if you’re going to serve this as a side dish, it goes great, like I said, with anything barbecue flavor. So baked barbecue meatballs. I have a great recipe I will link in the show notes for you or barbecue ribs, or, I have a great recipe for Instant Pot Country Style Boneless Ribs that I will link in the show notes for you. Or you could just add some frozen chicken fingers that you bake in the oven. If you’re grilling, I have a great recipe for grilled pork burgers or just grilled hamburgers or Turkey burgers. I will link all of those in the show notes so that you can make this into a complete dinner. 

That does it for today’s episode. Do you know what I’m going to ask right now? I would love to have you rate and review our show in your preferred podcast player. It will just help other people find this show as well and I would totally appreciate it. 

As always, all of the recipes I talked about in this episode will be linked right in the show notes for you. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Welcome welcome to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes, sometimes breakfast, that you can get on the table any night of the week. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich.

Susie Weinrich: Who here loves breakfast for dinner? We love it as a change-up of flavors every once in a while. Sometimes my kids get a real craving for waffles or pancakes and I’m like, yep, it’s time for breakfast for dinner.

So I have a great recipe for you today that not only makes a great breakfast, it makes a great breakfast for dinner. It makes a great breakfast on the go. They could be put in the freezer and heated up in the microwave. Super easy. We’re making Sausage Egg Cups. 

Tips and Tricks: So let’s talk a little bit about this recipe before we actually get started. You can absolutely customize these egg cups, however you like. The base of the recipe is basically the eggs and the half and half and maybe the salt, but everything else you can customize. So I call for sausage. If you like ham, or if your kids like ham or ham are what you have, use that instead. My recipe calls for green onions. If your kids don’t eat onions, leave them out. If your kids love green peppers, add them in. I have spinach in mine. If nobody in your house likes spinach, don’t add it. It is so customizable to whatever your family likes. So I guess take this recipe with a grain of salt and make it your own. 

The other nice thing about this recipe is that can absolutely be made two to three days ahead. Cook them in the oven, let them cool, and cover them up with some plastic. Pop them in the fridge when you’re ready to have them for dinner, or if you’re serving brunch, you can just reheat them in the muffin tin that they’re in for about 15 minutes at 350. Or if you just need a couple of them, you can pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds to one minute. Super, super simple. 

The other thing is they can absolutely be frozen. So you can freeze them and keep them for up to six months, and then just pop them frozen right in the microwave and they’re good to go. Great for a breakfast on the go, or a super easy weeknight dinner. 

Finally, before we get on to making the full recipe, you can make this into 12 really big egg cups, or you can do 24 of just a regular-size egg cup, depending on the size of your muffin tin. Both will work. 

Sausage Egg Cups Recipe: All right, so let’s get started. You’re going to start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees, and then you want to get a muffin tin. Like I said before, a 12-count or a 24-count muffin tin will be great. You’ll prep that muffin tin by spraying each cup very generously with cooking spray, or you can coat it with vegetable oil or olive oil. Then in a large skillet, you’ll add about one tablespoon of olive oil and cook some breakfast sausage and crumble it up while it cooks through. If you have a lot of excess oil in the pan, go ahead and drain that from the sausage before moving on. Then you’ll add two cups of fresh baby spinach and three-quarter cups of chopped green onions. You’ll stir that in until the spinach is wilted. It’ll take about five minutes.

Now, remove that from the heat, and you can stir in half a cup of fresh basil. Set that aside and let that cool. Now in a large bowl, you’ll whisk together eight eggs, one and a half cups of half and half, half a teaspoon of salt, and some pepper, if you like pepper. You do not have to add it if pepper is nacho jam.

So whisk that together until it is completely smooth. Grab that muffin tin that you had prepped in the beginning, and you will divide that sausage mixture evenly into the muffin cups, however many you are going to make. So if you’re going to make 12 big ones, do 12. If you’re going to make 24, divide it out into 24. Then you’ll pour enough egg mixture over top of that sausage mixture just so that each cup is about three-quarters of the way full. Then sprinkle each cup with Parmesan cheese. You’ll need about one and a quarter cups of fresh grated Parmesan cheese. 

Pop that in your oven for about 15 to 18 minutes until the cheese is bubbly on the top, and the egg cup is cooked through. Pull it out of the oven and let them cool for about five minutes. If you’re going to serve them later, you can pop them in the fridge, but if you’re going to serve them right away, you may want to run a sharp knife around the edge of each muffin cup to pop that egg cup right out of the muffin tin. 

When we serve this for dinner, I will serve maybe one or two per child, and then probably anywhere from two to four per adult. Then for side dishes, we like to keep it very breakfasty, so fresh fruit, maybe some toast, yogurt, granola, maybe some pancakes or waffles, or just some store-bought pastries.

That’s it. Super delicious. Breakfast for dinner. As always, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes so you can make this for dinner whenever you’re ready. 

If you are loving these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you either rate and review or follow and subscribe to our show. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinnertime a little easier. See ya.

Intro: Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your very favorite audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. I am your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Don’t you love it when you have a restaurant-quality recipe that you know you can make at home? Not to mention that it can come together in under 45 minutes and is super impressive, slightly healthy, and delicious. 

Today we are making Shrimp Scampi. Basically, it’s a linguini pasta recipe that has marinated shrimp in a garlicky lemon butter sauce that’s spiked with just a hint of white wine. You are going to love it. 

Tips and Tricks: So let’s start by going over a few tips for this recipe. Number one, it comes together crazy, crazy fast. So we’re going to want to do something called mise en plas, which is just a fancy way of saying like, get your things together, right? So what you want to do is prep all of the ingredients before you actually get started. So you’re going to want to mince the garlic, measure out your olive oil, cube the butter measure out the red pepper flakes, and the wine. Zest and squeeze your lemon, chop up your parsley, and grate some fresh Parmesan. Get all those things ready so that when it starts to come together, you have everything and you don’t have to stop to chop or measure or pour any of those things. 

Number two, you want to use extra virgin olive oil. It is not the same as regular olive oil, and you will see the difference right on the package in the store. You will see the words extra virgin. Now, of course, they’re processed differently. It’s a different pressing, all of those things. But what we are interested in here is the flavor. Extra virgin olive oil tastes completely different than regular olive oil. You want that really pronounced buttery flavor of extra virgin olive oil.

This next tip is one of my very favorite kitchen tips. Did you know that you can freeze white wine for four to six months and use it in your cooking recipes? I love this tip because I am not a huge white wine drinker. It’s not like I would open the bottle, use a cup for the recipe, and then drink the rest with dinner. I would do that with red wine, but not necessarily white wine. So what I do is I like to buy, they’re like little cartons, not a box of wine, but they’re like little two or three serving cartons of wine. I pour out what I need, pop the top up because usually the top will flip up kind of like a juice box, and then screw the little cap back on and pop it in the freezer and it’s good for four to six months. It does turn into a slushy situation, but you just scoop out what you need and it works in any cooking recipe. Of course, don’t drink that wine after it’s been frozen. It won’t be delicious like that, but it will be perfect in your recipes. 

Shrimp Scampi Recipe: Let’s get on to making your Shrimp Scampi Linguini. You’re going to start with two things. Get a big pot of water and put it on the stovetop to boil. Then we’re going to marinate the shrimp while your water comes up to boil. 

So you need one pound of large-sized shrimp that has been peeled and deveined. In a large bowl, you’re going to combine the shrimp with one tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, one fresh minced garlic clove, half a teaspoon of lemon zest, one teaspoon of kosher salt, and half a teaspoon of black pepper. You’re going to toss this all together with the shrimp and let it marinate for about 15 to 20 minutes while that water comes up to a boil. Like I said in the beginning, at this point, you want to prep everything because as soon as the shrimp are done marinating and the water is ready for the pasta, things are going to move really quickly. 

You’re going to measure out three garlic cloves and get those minced. Two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and five tablespoons of butter, and get those cubed. Half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Measure out half a cup of a dry white wine. So here you’re going to want to use a Chardonnay or a Pinot Grigio. You need three tablespoons of fresh-squeezed lemon juice. Two tablespoons of parsley and get that chopped. Half a teaspoon of lemon zest, and then grate some fresh Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on at the end. 

Now at this point, your water should be boiling and your shrimp should be nice and marinated. So go ahead and take 12 ounces of linguini and get that in the boiling water to cook per package instructions. 

Then you need a large skillet that’s going to hold just about the entire dish. So something large, like a 10 to 12-inch skillet. Pop that over medium heat and add two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Once that becomes nice and hot and shimmery, you’re going to add that marinated shrimp and saute it for about one minute per side. Shrimp cooks very quickly, so it doesn’t need a lot. Then once they are cooked, go ahead and transfer them to a separate plate and set those aside. 

In that same skillet, you’ll add three minced garlic cloves, and the red pepper flakes and saute for about 30 seconds. You do not want the garlic to brown here. Then you’re going to pour in your white wine and the lemon juice and simmer for about two minutes. Finally, you’re going to add the cubed butter and simmer it in the sauce until it’s melted and it starts to thicken, which will be about one minute. At the very end, we’re going to add the shrimp to the pan with any juices that have collected from that shrimp, the chopped parsley, and lemon zest, and what I like to do here is just transfer the linguini straight out of that boiling water right into the pan, instead of going through the process of draining it in a colander and then pouring it in. I just take tongs and grab the linguini and pop it right in the pan.

You’ll toss everything together so the pasta is coated with that lemon, garlic butter, and white wine sauce and it’s time to eat. You can just garnish this up with some grated Parmesan cheese. 

For serving, I just recommend adding a Caesar side salad and some garlic bread. That’s it. I’m telling you, this one comes together so quickly.

Of course, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you to find when you’re ready to make dinner. 

If you’re enjoying these episodes of Let’s Make Dinner, I would love to have you subscribe or follow your preferred podcast player. That will just make it easier for you to find all of our future episodes right in your podcast feed.

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner, makes your dinner time a little easier.

Intro: Hello everybody and welcome back to another episode of Let’s Make Dinner, your audio library of amazing dinner recipes you can always get on the table. That is my promise and my guarantee. I’m your host, Susie Weinrich. 

Susie Weinrich: Today we talking about something fancy. Well, I should say it has a really fancy name, but it’s not necessarily a fancy dish. We’re talking about pork Milanese. Pork Milanese. I feel like you should cup your hand and bounce it up and down while you say that. I’m probably appropriating right now and I apologize. I definitely shouldn’t do that. But what I’m telling you is that pork Milanese is a traditional Italian dish and basically what it is, is breaded and pan-fried pork. It’s that simple. But with this pork Milanese recipe, we take it just a step further and we’re making a tomato basil and garlic compote that’s going to be served over top of your pork. It’s delicious. Even though we’re taking it a step further and making that yummy tomato compote, the recipe is still going to be ready in under 30 minutes, so this is also a very quick weeknight meal. Not to mention, we’re using pork cutlets, which are super economical right now, especially as all of the meat prices you see in the grocery stores are rising and rising and rising again. It’s almost shocking. So this is a great economical, pocketbook-friendly dinner that you can make any week.

Tips and Tricks: Couple of tips before we get started with the full recipe. Since we are pan-frying the pork, that means that we are going to be putting a breading on the pork. What this recipe calls for is Panko breadcrumbs. Panko is, it’s actually a crustless Japanese-style breadcrumb, and they’re much coarser and have a better texture than just a traditional softer breadcrumb. You can definitely find them in any grocery store near just the other traditional breadcrumbs, so don’t be worried that they have a fancy name and you won’t be able to them.

Next, since we are breading the pork, my best advice to make things run smoothly and cleanly in your kitchen is to set up an assembly line. So you’re going to start with three plates. One plate’s going to be for the Dijon, one plate’s going to be for the breading, and one plate’s going to be for the finished breaded pork cutlets. That’s going to make things go so much smoother and so much faster for you. 

The other tip is this recipe calls for four pork cutlets, which are going to fit in anywhere from a nine to 12-inch skillet. If you are doubling the recipe or tripling the recipe, you’re going to want to cook the pork cutlets in batches. Anytime your pan frying, you do not want to crowd the pan, because what’s going to happen is you’re going to end up steaming instead of frying. 

Pork Milanese Recipe: Let’s get on to the full recipe. You’re going to start with your four pork cutlets. Look for something that is a center-cut pork cutlet. They’re going to be probably about an inch thick. What you’re going to want to do is take a meat mallet or a meat tenderizer, and you’re going to pound them so they’re a little bit bigger and much thinner. You want them about a third of an inch thick. That’s going to help the pork cutlets cook before the breading burns in the pan. So it’s, it’s twofold. You’re tenderizing the pork and you’re getting it the right size to cook. 

So go ahead and pound those out and then set them aside. Now is the time when you need those three plates for assembly. On the first plate, you’re going to spoon out three tablespoons of Dijon mustard. On the second plate, you’re going to mix together one cup of panko breadcrumbs, half a cup of grated Parmesan cheese, half a teaspoon of each one of these things from your spice cabinet – garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, and fresh lemon zest. Then you need a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt. Mix that all together and then keep the last plate empty because that’s where your finished breaded pork chops are going to go. 

So get your big skillet, pop it on the stove, top over medium-high heat, and add a quarter cup of olive oil. Now it’s time to bread the cutlets. You’re going to brush each cutlet on both sides and the sides with that Dijon mustard. Then place the cutlet in the breading mixture and press it lightly and coat all the sides with that breading. Give it just a little bit of a shake to get any excess breading off, and then place it on your final plate. Repeat that with all of the other pork cutlets.

By this time, the oil should be nice and hot in your pan and ready to fry up those pork cutlets. Here’s another tip with pork. It does not need to be cooked to well. It only needs to be cooked to medium, which is 145 degrees internal temperature. I tested this recipe many times, and with that hot oil, the pork only needs to cook for two minutes per side. That cooks the pork and it gets that outer breading nice and golden and crisp. It’s perfect. So get those cooked and then set them back on that plate. Or you can set them on a sheet pan and just set them aside and let them rest. 

Turn back to that skillet that’s now empty. We’re going to make that tomato, garlic, and basil garnish that’s going to go on top of your pork. You can wipe the skillet out with a paper towel if you like, or if there are not a lot of breading crumbs left in the pan, you don’t even need to do that. What you’re going to do is add two tablespoons of butter, and one tablespoon of olive oil. Let that get nice and hot, and then add one cup of cherry tomatoes that have been halved, and let those saute in the pan for about one minute. Then you are going to sprinkle in two fresh garlic cloves that have been thinly sliced, two tablespoons of fresh, chopped, or torn basil, and then half a teaspoon of lemon zest. Just stir that around the pan for about 30 seconds and then remove it from the heat. 

The whole recipe is done. Now all we have to do is assemble it and get it served. So let’s talk about that. It’s very common and maybe even a little traditional, to serve your Pork Milanese on top of a bed of arugula. Arugula is a beautiful lettuce that some people say it’s peppery. I don’t find it to be very peppery. I actually find it to be very nutty. It goes really, really well with any type of light vinaigrette. So I would lightly dress some arugula with your favorite vinaigrette, pop the Pork Milanese on top, and then spoon that tomato, and garlic mixture over top of that. That is a perfect dinner. Now if you want to add a side dish, like a starch side dish, risotto is amazing with this. I know you’re probably like, I just made a 20-minute dinner. I am not making risotto that takes me forever. I totally agree. But if you have an Instant Pot, risotto, it’s like magic. The Instant Pot makes perfect risotto. I am not kidding you. You pop it in with all the equal ratios that you need and cook it. I think it’s for 17 minutes with maybe a 10-minute natural release and it is perfect. So I will link my recipe for a Parmesan Instant Pot Risotto right in the show notes for you. 

That does it for today’s episode of Let’s Make Dinner. Of course, I will link all of the recipes that I talked about in this episode right in the show notes for you. 

You know what I’m going to ask now. I would love it if you would rate and review this podcast in your favorite podcast player. It just helps this show up for more people in all the podcast players. 

Outro: Until next time, I hope this episode of Let’s Make Dinner makes your dinner time a little easier.