Chip-Chop and Microwave Alfredo

This is a tale of two rich, fattening, unhealthy dinners. All in the name of cleaning out the fridge. Well...the first one more than the second!

Made chicken, broccoli and ziti last night. Unfortunately, Brian discovered that we didn't have any alfredo sauce in the cabinet. Oops....used it a few weeks ago with scallops and fettuccine. With the suggestion of red sauce over broccoli and chicken seriously unappealing, I hit the internet searching for a quick sauce idea. Oh Yeah.....microwave alfredo sauce. Not only that, it used up some of the butter, half and half and the rest of the fresh parmesan left over from Christmas. Score! I had to grind up the cheese in the food processor, along with some garlic and salt and pepper. (Thanks again for the great gift!) Then put the cheese mixture into a bowl and add milk and butter. You microwave on high for a minute, then stir. Repeat three times. It didn't make a lot of sauce and it was a bit gloppy, but it saved dinner. It was also more like cheese sauce than alfredo but it was delicous. A little goes a long way!

Tonight was Brian's chance to try an Alton Brown (AB in our house) favorite. It's called a "Chip-Chop" and AB praises it as "Trash Food at its best!" Pack of pork chops? Check. Salt and Vinegar potato chips? Check. Canola oil? Check. First you smash up the chips into crumbs. (which is actually kinda fun!) Then you "bread" the chops in the chips. You fry them for a few minutes in the oil on the stove, then bake them at 250 degrees in the oven. The chops were positively sinful! So moist, so flavorful, so fattening. As someone near and dear to me has said, "Fat tastes good!" Not something you'd want to cook all the time. But hey, once a year?? I say let it all hang out.