Pork Chops and Potatoes Au Gratin

I made a really good dinner tonight. I wanted to share and/or remember what I made, so I’ve decided to blog about it for posterity. I also realized that there are not very many recipes for NuWave Ovens out there, so this is my attempt to get more out there.

I used my NuWave Oven. For those that don’t know, I have a NuWave Oven. It’s is the best infomercial product I’ve ever purchased. If you’ve never heard of it, the NuWave Oven cooks food using three different methods: Conduction, Convention, and Infrared. Below are descriptions from the NuWave website.

• Conduction is the heat that is applied directly to the food.
• Convection is circulated hot air, produced by our quiet motor and a specially designed fan. This allows the heat to distribute evenly for faster cooking and even browning.
• Infrared is simply a form of gentle, invisible, radiant heat. It penetrates the inside of foods while also cooking from the outside, leaving dishes moist and full of flavor yet browned to perfection. Hearthware's specially patented heating rods enhance the NuWave Oven's unique infrared capabilities. The concept is similar to the warmth of the sun's rays felt on your skin. As a matter of fact, about 80% of the sun's rays consist of infrared waves. The same principle applies to our NuWave Oven, only on a smaller scale. Restaurants have been using this technology for years to keep foods warm.

For more info about my thoughts on the NuWave Oven, check out my blog about cooking. If you want to purchase one, go to their website.

A few things before I attempt to put to the recipes down.

1. I used the NuWave Oven, so the instructions are for how to cook it in there – But you could easily put this in a conventional oven. The NuWave Oven operates at 350˚, but you may have to add a little bit of extra time to cook everything properly.
2. I don’t usually measure stuff when I cook (especially when I’m experimenting), so all the measurements are just guesses on my part. My philosophy w/ cooking is that you can usually tell it’s enough by looking, tasting, or smelling. Also, everyone has their own preference with ingredients, so you can add or subtract ingredients as you like.
3. I very rarely use salt and pepper. Ever since I was on the 6 Week Body Makeover Diet, I use Garlic power or Onion power and I don’t like pepper. So, you can add salt and pepper if you like, but you won’t find them in my recipes. The food tasted amazing, so it wasn’t even needed.

Back to my dinner…

Pork Chops

1 Pork Chop (½ inch thickness)

1 clove of Garlic
¼ Cup Vinegar (enough to marinate the meat in)
1 tsp Garlic Powder

1. Chop up the Garlic.
2. Marinate Pork Chop in vinegar, garlic and garlic powder. You can marinate for 1-2 hours or prep it ahead of time like I did. I put the pork chop and marinade in a FoodSaver freezer bag. I vacuum sealed it and stuck it in the freezer about two months ago.
3. Place the frozen Pork Chop on the 4” rack
4. Set NuWave Oven on High for 7 min.
5. Turn Pork Chop Over and cook for another 7 min.
6. Poke Pork Chop with fork, if the juices run clear it’s cooked, if not cook a little longer.

The Pork Chop tasted amazing, because the vinegar and garlic were infused by the vacuum seal before it was frozen and were locked in when cooked w/ the NuWave Oven. I was experimenting with the FoodSaver I bought just after Thanksgiving and marinated the pork chop before freezing. I’m for sure going to do that again.

Potatoes Au Gratin

2 Russet Potatoes

½ Cup Onion (Chopped)
1 Green Onion Stalk (Chopped)
1 clove of Garlic
2 Tbsp Butter (Softened)
2 oz. Blue Cheese (Crumbled)
¾ Cup Cheddar Cheese (Shredded)
2 Tbsp Breadcrumbs
1 Cup Milk
¼ Cup Champagne
¼ Cup White Wine

1. Wash and Peel Potatoes.
2. Cut into thin discs. I used a mandolin to make them even
3. Add Onion, Green Onion, Milk, Champagne, White Wine, Butter, Blue Cheese and ½ cup of Cheddar Cheese to a bowl and mix
4. Place the potatoes in the 10” NuWave Oven Pan. Make sure the potatoes are spread evenly in the pan. (You can also use a 9x9 pan)
5. Pour the mixture from the bowl over the potatoes.
6. Sprinkle half the breadcrumbs over the top of the potatoes
7. Place the pan on the 1” rack
8. Set NuWave Oven on High for 20 min
9. Sprinkle the rest of the Cheddar Cheese and breadcrumbs and cook for another 10 min
10. Let potatoes sit for 2 mins in NuWave Oven before serving

This was a complete experiment. I had to do something with my potatoes, milk, and cheese that were going bad, and the leftover Champagne & White Wine that was getting flat. Yes, you can use milk that’s going bad for baking or cooking. You’ll kill all the bacteria if it’s cooked in something that’s more that 145˚. I originally put the potatoes in for 15 min and added Step eight and set the NuWave Oven for 5 more mins, but the potatoes weren’t fully cooked. I ended up Cooking them for an extra 10 mins (at 5 min increments). That is why I put the times the way they are. I suppose you can do the same and just taste the potatoes to see if their cooked. This will ruin the nice presentation and great look of the potatoes, but it’s up to you

You can actually cook the two things in the NuWave Oven at the same time, but I didn't want the pork chop juice to drip on to the potatoes, so I cooked them separately.

I wish I had pics, but I didn't realize that I was going to blog about this until after I ate! haha. Next time!. If you try out these recipes, let me know how it turns out. =)