Pork Cotoletta with Sage and White Wine Sauce & Lemon Lime and Bitters Slice

Main: Pork Cotoletta With Sage and White Wine Sauce
Delicious Magazine July 2020 (The Chef & the Butcher)

Dessert: Lemon, Lime and Bitters Slice
Woolworths Fresh Magazine – June 2020

“If you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man’s hunger”. Kahil Gibran

Hi Everyone!

Very excited to be cooking with pork this week because as you know my family are not great lovers of this cut of meat (well except the MAV). Colin Fassnidge and Anthony Puharich from Delicious Magazine made this recipe sound so tempting that I just had to give it a go. They call it a “retro feel-good feed”.

When my kids were growing up and I thought lamb cutlets would be nice for dinner I ended up needing to buy around 40 cutlets to feed them and then I had to take out a mortgage to pay for them. Not so with pork cutlets. These were large and very lean. They do need a little tenderising but on the whole that only took a couple of good whacks. One per person does the trick and I thought they were actually quite economical. I am a sucker for crumbs. These crumbs contain lemon, parsley and parmesan so that makes them versatile. But the real jewel in the crown of this meal is the simple and delicious sauce. Sage and white wine work so well together and I will use this easy to make sauce again with chicken or even over schnitzel. I did need to thicken the sauce just a touch with some cornflour towards the end but it’s really up to you as to how thick you would like it to be.

I served the pork cutlets with zucchinis and mushrooms gently fried up together and a sweet potato mash. Yum! Even though pork is not high on the list of preferred meats in this house, this main was given 7/10.

Now to dessert. The photo on the front of the Woolworths Fresh Magazine absolutely sold me on the Lemon, Lime and Bitters Slice. It is no-bake, so 10 points already and you use the bitters you’ve had sitting in the drinks cupboard for ages. There are some great tips in the recipe for the custard and the whole thing came together very easily. It was tangy and tasty and I would definitely serve this for afternoon or morning tea as well as dessert. BUT, as the photos show, mine whilst tasting fabulous did not have the same colour as the magazine version.

See the colour difference with the magazine photo!

So, a second trial with a drop of red food colouring did solve that issue.

Now that colour is much better. A little drop of food colouring.

I have wondered whether or not it was the particular bitters I used but the recipe didn’t specify any particular brand. Anyway regardless, it was a winer and received 9/10 served with cream.

All in all this menu was easy, economical and one of those meals I didn’t feel I had slaved over. It’s worth giving it a go.

Till next week.

From my table to yours with love.x

Pork Cotoletta with Sage & White Wine Sauce

6 350g pork cutlets (trimmed, rind removed)
flour to dust
400 g stale white breadcrumbs
zest of one lemon (wedges to serve)
½ c parmesan (finely grated)
¼ c flat-leaf parsley (finely chopped)
1½ c milk
3 eggs
vegetable oil for frying

Sage and White Wine Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
60 g unsalted butter
1 onion (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
2 tbsp sage leaves (finely chopped)
1 C white wine
1½ c pure (thin) cream

Working with 1 cutlet at a time, use a meat mallet to pound to 1cm-thick. Season four with salt and pepper, then spread on a large plate. Place breadcrumbs in a large bowl with zest, parmesan and parsley. Season and mix to combine. In a separate bowl, beat together milk and eggs. Lightly coat cutlets first in the flour mixture. then the milk mixture, and finally in the breadcrumb mixture. Place on a tray and chill for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the sage and white wine sauce, heat the oil and butter in a medium non-stick frypan over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic and sage and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until onion has softened. Add wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, and cook until reduced by half. Stir in cream, bring to the boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until thickened. Season to taste, set aside and keep warm.
Preheat oven to 160°C. Heat a large deep frypan with 3cm oil until hot (test with a cube of bread, it should turn golden in 30 seconds). In batches, fry the cutlets, turning occasionally, for 4-5 minutes until golden. Place cutlets on a baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until the meat is cooked to your liking. Rest for 5-6 minutes before serving. Drizzle over sage and white wine sauce and scatter with freshly ground black pepper. Serve with lemon wedges.

No-bake Lemon, Lime & Bitters Slice

250 g pkt milk arrowroot biscuits
275 g unsalted butter
3 lemons (zested, juiced)
2 limes (zested, juiced plus 1 extra cut into rounds to serve)
1 c castor sugar
4 free range eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp gelatine powder

Jelly

2 tbsp bitters
1 c lemonade
¼ c castor sugar
4 tsp gelatine powder

Lightly grease a 27½ x 17½cm (3½ cmm deep) slice pan, then line with baking paper
Break biscuits into a food processor and process until fine crumbs form. Add 150g melted butter, processing to combine. Using the back of a spoon, firmly press mixture evenly into base of pan, then refrigerate.
Meanwhile, place lemon and lime zest and juice, sugar and egg in a saucepan, whisking to combine. Place gelatine and 1 tbs warm water in a small bowl, mixing to combine. Place saucepan over low heat and cook, whisking constantly for 5 minutes or until mixture is a custard consistency. Remove pan from heat and add gelatine mixture, stirring to dissolve. Add remaining chopped butter and stir until combined.
Remove pan from fridge. Carefully pour curd through a sieve over biscuit base, then return pan to fridge.
To make the jelly, place bitters, lemonade and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat. Meanwhile, place gelatine and 2 tbs warm water in a small bowl, mixing to combine. Remove pan from heat and add gelatine mixture, stirring to dissolve. Cool completely, then transfer mixture to a jug. Pour jelly over curd layer. return slice pan to fridge and chill for at lest 4 hours or until set. Slice and serve topped with extra lime slices.

Pork Cotoletta with Sage and White Wine Sauce & Lemon Lime and Bitters Slice