Pistachio Crusted Pork Cutlets
As far as I’m concerned, you could cover liver in pistachios and I would think it’s the greatest food I’ve ever tasted – pistachios are addictive. Those salty, crunchy bits -shelled, of course – are dangerous because you open a bag and BOOM…next thing you know you’ve eaten the entire bag. They’re not low calorie, they’re not low fat (and certainly NOT low cost) but somehow I place them in the “HEALTHY” category 🙂 In this recipe, we’re grinding them up to use as breading for our pork cutlets and then making a big, green, fresh arugula salad. See? Healthy.
Ingredients
- 4 (4oz) pork cutlets
- 3/4 cup shelled pistachios, ground into chunky powder
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 2 eggs
- 2 TBSP lemon juice
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 4 cups arugula
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1.Grind pistachios in food processor, set aside. In three separate, shallow bowls, create your dredging stations: crack and beat eggs in one bowl. Pour cornstarch in another. Add pistachios to the third. Salt and pepper pork cutlets.
2. Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in large skillet on medium high.
3. Begin dredging pork cutlets. First in cornstarch. Then egg. Then pistachios. Add to heated oil and cook until pork is cooked through (145 degrees). Remove from heat. Set aside to rest.
4. Slowly add remaining 1 TBSP olive oil to the lemon juice, whisk aggressively. Add salt and pepper. Toss with arugula.
5. Slice cutlets and place on salad and serve.
Live Cooking Demo
The Cocktail
(Gin) Southside
- 2 oz gin
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 5 mint leaves
- ice
- Muddle mint and ice in shaker. Add remaining ingredients and shake! Strain into coupe glass, garnish with fresh mint leaves or lemon peel
Final Say
Earlier, when I said to grind the pistachios into a “chunky powder” – I now say: grind into a very fine powder and skip the chunks. They burn easily when pan frying so it would have been easier to just grind the nuts until they are the consistency of flour. Other than that, this meal is perfection. The saltiness of the pistachios, the juiciness of the pork cutlets, the brightness of the lemon vinaigrette and the peppery-ness (is that a word) of the arugula all balance nicely. And the cocktail fits right in!