When Pork goes bad...literally.

I did all my shopping on Sunday instead of Monday this week.  And a night out on Tuesday threw off my menu plans.  That being said, the bone-in pork chops I pulled out of the fridge last night were 'good' till today (the 28th).  So I was pretty mad when one had a grayish tinge and both emitted a smell that even made my husband question them.   Pork gone bad and flexibility rules again.  Why must the kitchen gods challenge me so?  I know this is a real nail-biter.  "What ever did she do?" you ask.  Well, I'll tell you.  I defrosted some chicken, got out the homemade bread crumbs made for the bad pork, whipped up a honey mustard vinaigrette from http://www.onceuponachef.com/ and pulled together a good meal.  I soaked the chicken in vinaigrette (after patting them dry), dredged them in breadcrumbs and baked at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I also drizzled a bit of dressing over the chicken breasts and sprinkled more pepper before putting in the oven.  

I put together a quick salad (greens, red onion, carrots and cherry tomatoes) dressed in the vinaigrette.  You might be thinking overkill, but the dressing is so damn good.  Really, you should try it.  The presentation was nice for a thrown together meal.  You can also use the dressing as a dip, which I did.  All in all, very happy with how dinner turned out.  And a glass of wine (or two) certainly helped dull the pain of the bad pork.  And I learned another important kitchen lesson:  it's okay to put stuff in the freezer and defrost appropriately thus ensuring no waste!  :)

Breaded Honey Mustard Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup honey mustard vinaigrette (divided) www.onceuponachef.com
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs (2 pieces multi grain bread pulsed in food processor, then drizzled with olive oil and pulsed again)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pat chicken breast dry, season with salt and pepper.  Put chicken breasts in shallow bowl and drizzle vinaigrette all over both sides.  Pour breadcrumbs in shallow bowl and dredge both sides of chicken.  Put chicken breasts on an oiled baking sheet.  Scoop more breadcrumbs on top (as desired) and drizzle more vinaigrette on top (as desired).  Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. 

This would also be delicious cut up and served on top of a nice bed of greens. 

Happy Cooking!  Happy Eating!

Yoyo