Summer Nights

I got a new (to me) cookbook out of the library called "Kitchen Express" by Mark Bittman.  I loved his book "How to Cook Everything" and I will definitely be adding this cookbook to my wishlist.  Everything in the book requires only a few ingredients and tastes really fresh. This book is divided by season, with about 100 (?) recipes per section.  This week we tried Lemon-Parmesan Chicken and Spicy Grilled Pork with Peaches.

The Lemon-Parmesan chicken was really a new variation of an old favorite of mine:  breaded chicken.  This version had grated lemon zest and parmesan cheese mixed directly in the breadcrumb mixture.  I'm not a fan of breading the chicken, but I love the finished product so I got in and got my hands dirty!  (I hate rolling my own meatballs for the same reason.)  Also, pounding the chicken into a thin cutlet is a great stress-reliever!   I did change one thing; instead of cooking the breaded chicken cutlet on the stove in butter until it was cooked through, I browned it in butter on both sides and then finished it in the toaster oven.  Anytime I've e ever attempted to cook a breaded chicken cutlet on the stove alone, I've burned the coating into a black mess.  This resulted in a golden, crunchy crust with just the right amount of butter.  Paired with boiled fingerling potatoes and fresh green beans, and this was lovely!

Spicy Grilled Pork with Peaches was a little different from how we usually have pork around here.  The recipe calls for peach butter, which, thanks to my friend Mrs. I, we had an unopened jar in the house!  You mix some fresh garlic and some spices with the peach butter, and coat the pork chops before putting them on the grill.  I had gotten some peaches, but unfortunately, they weren't quite ripe.  Brian grilled 'em anyway, and they just didn't taste how I expected.  Then I got a couple of bites from the other peach half on the plate and it was just like peach pie filling, hot and sweet.  (minus crust, of course.)   I'd try grilled peaches again sometime, only making sure they're ripe first.  The pork was fantastic!  This one is definitely something I want to make again and again.

So there you have it, two dinners worth their salt on these waning summer nights.  Pretty soon September will be here, the nights will be cooler, and these two delicious dishes will be a distant, sweet memory.