Ham and cheese-stuffed porkies

I didn't get to cook much this weekend because my family had to go out of town. Before I left, however, I read G's food blog (www.kitchenmaus.blogspot.com) where she featured a recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu. We didn't have chicken fillet but, by some stroke of luck, there was half a kilo of butterfly-cut porkies in the freezer.

I later learned my aunt bought it on Friday as a subtle way of saying she wants pork tonkatsu on Saturday. I've made tonkatsu twice already so I thought I'd take my friend's recipe and just twist it up a little. 

This ended up as some sorta midnight snack which we shared with family friends on Saturday night:

********

6 pieces butterfly cut pork (small- to medium-sized cuts)

2 slices cooked sweet ham, cut to fit the pork pockets

cheese, cut to fit the pork pockets

dried basil leaves

2 lightly beaten eggs, seasoned with salt and pepper

3/4 cup flour

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

parmesan cheese

- Sprinkle the cheese slices with basil, sandwich a slice between two cuts of ham, and stuff it inside the pork.

- Dip the pork in egg and dredge it in flour. 

- Give porky another bath in the egg bowl before rolling it on the panko-plus-parmesan mix.

- Deep fry, baby!

I guess since it's Pork Cordon Bleu, it should go with mushroom gravy or something like that. I served it with Bull's Eye Tonkatsu Sauce (Robinsons Supermarket) and it was pretty okay as well.

********

Lessons learned:

~ The rolls ended up rather fat so pounding the meat might help make it look more appetizing next time.

~ Trim the fat for a healthier and yummier dish.

~ Take note of the amount of time it takes for the first batch to cook. I didn't so I ended up guessing every time.

~ Make sure your camera is working. Lol. My digicam refused to cooperate so I used my phone to take pics of my "finished product." Unfortunately, I don't know how to get it out of the phone and on to this blog. No worries though.. I'll post it as soon as I can. Wish me luck with the tech stuff!

********

Starters

I figured I should at least explain why I'm doing this.

I'm no whiz in the kitchen, but I do love to cook. While I can't speak for the people who have tried my dishes, I have some degree of confidence that they generally like what I have made, give or take a few culinary glitches. Almost everything is experimental so I'm not claiming perfection. I decide on a dish, search for two to three recipes online, and tweak things up to sorta "personalize" the process.

I also love to eat. It doesn't really show as one glance of me would easily make one conclude I'm underweight. But I seriously love trying out new dishes, whether at home or at some restaurant.

The blog is called "The Weekend Kusinera" because that's exactly what I am. Weekend affairs with the kitchen make my Saturdays and Sundays extra special.