Recipe: Pan Fried Pork Cutlets with Turmeric Lemon Butter Sauce

I have to admit that I purchased my first bottle of Turmeric because of the bright orange color.  I use Turmeric in my turkey chili recipe as well as on roasted, bone-in, chicken breast.  Recently, I’ve been experimenting with Turmeric and pork.  One of my favorite pork cuts is the center cut pork chop (sliced into cutlets).  This is essentially a bone out pork chop which has been thinly sliced (you can do this yourself or buy the cutlets like this at the market, of course the latter will cost you more).  

I usually prepare the same side dishes to go with my Turmeric pork cutlets, namely, sautéed whole button mushrooms and pan fried potatoes with red onion and white wine (I use the white wine to deglaze my pan after the potatoes and onion have caramelized <note: I’m not after a crispy potato with this application>).

Let’s start with the ingredients:

– 2 pork chops (with or without bone).

– Juice of half a lemon

– Salt and pepper

– 1 tablespoon of Turmeric

– 2-3 sprigs of Italian parsley

– 2 large potatoes

– 1 medium sized red or white onion

– ½ cup of good white wine (something you would drink)

– 1 package of small white button mushrooms (leave whole).  TIP: As Jacques Pepin says, don’t splurge on expensive mushrooms, you can get good flavor from standard white mushrooms.

– 2-3 tabs of butter

– Olive oil

For the pork cutlets begin by slicing your pork chop into three thin pieces; I like to stand the pork chop on it’s side and cut through the meat with a sharp knife (make sure you’re not using a dull knife).  If your chops have a bone simply remove it and save it for soup or roast it in the oven (it’s hard to get all the meat off the bone).  Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of your pork cutlets and pound them until you get the appropriate thinness.  You can pound the pork until the meat is paper thin or you can simply reduce the size of the meat by roughly half (it’s up to you, but make sure you use a good mallet, I like the following meat tenderizer).  

After the pork has been sliced and pounded, heat up a large pan over medium to high hear (doesn’t need to be non-stick) and add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil.  At the same time, flower your cutlets with a combination of white flour, turmeric, salt, and pepper.  Make sure to remove any excess flour.  Next, place your cutlets in the hot pan and sear on both sides for 1-2 minutes, you’re looking to get good color and not to cook the meat all the way through.  Remove the meat from the pan and place on a clean dish once the desired color has been achieved.  In the same pan, add your butter and allow to melt down.  Thereafter, add your lemon and place the meat back in the pan.  Combine the ingredients and let the pork cook an additional 2-3 minutes.  Add a bit more salt and pepper after tasting your sauce (if needed).

For the mushrooms, simply heat up a small pan and add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil.  At the same time, thoroughly wash your mushrooms (yes, you can submerge mushrooms in water to clean them as long as you use them right away) and dry them as best as possible.  Thereafter, add the mushrooms to your hot pan along with plenty of salt and pepper.  Sautee the mushrooms for 6-9 minutes.  You’re looking for the water in the mushrooms to be released and for caramelization to occur.  Keep the mushrooms moving in the pan given that you’re working with a hot pan.  

For the white wine potatoes, begin by peeling two large potatoes and thinly slicing them into 1/8 slices.  One you have all of your potatoes sliced submerge them in a large bowl with clean water; thoroughly wash the starch off the potatoes and repeat this process.  Heat up a large non stick pan and add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil.  Add your potatoes, along with a good amount of salt and pepper, and let them sit for 4-5 minutes before turning (you want to let the potatoes cook and establish some color before turning them).  Do the same after stirring the potatoes and repeat until all sides of the potatoes are brown and cooked.  Once the potatoes have been cooked remove them to a clean bowl and add your thinly sliced onion along with salt and pepper to your hot pan (along with a bit more olive oil).  Sauté the onions until translucent and add the potatoes back to the pan.  Stir the mixture well and make sure your pan is hot (this is key for deglazing).  Finally, add your white wine and scrape the pan to loosen up all the good browned bits.  I realize that this is an unorthodox process for pan fried potatoes but the flavor is very pleasing when combined with the Turmeric pork; again, this technique will not yield crispy potatoes.  

Enjoy the pork, potatoes, and mushrooms with a crisp lager, like Pilsner Urquell or an equivalent beer.