This is a recipe I've only recently started making, but it has turned out quite well several times already. It's quick, and only uses a few utensils, so there's hardly any cleanup. From start to finish, this meal took me less than 30 minutes, including washing the pans. Anyways, on to the main event (or course, as the case may be).
-=Honey Dijon Pork Chops=-
1 Pork Chop (4-5 oz)
Honey
Dijon Mustard
Black Pepper
Start by heating up a skillet on the stove on HIGH. If you want the cooked chop to look nicer, you can pat it dry with a paper towel first before putting it in the skillet. Cook for about 5 minutes while you make the honey Dijon glaze. Mix the honey and mustard in a small bowl, at about a 3:2 ratio of honey to mustard (no need to be precise with this). Feel free to adjust the amount to your personal taste, making enough to coat both sides of the pork chop. The consistency of the glaze should be somewhat viscous, like syrup. Flip the pork chop, reduce heat to MEDIUM, then coat the top of the chop with half of the honey glaze. Add some ground pepper. Cook for another few minutes, then flip again and coat the second side with the rest of the glaze. Grind some pepper on this side as well. Don't worry if the glaze drips off the meat into the skillet - it's actually a good thing. Give it another few minutes on LOW heat, and you're done! You can tell whether the meat is fully cooked based on the color and texture - the meat will have turned a sort of off white color, and it should be relatively stiff but still slightly springy. This is something you learn to tell by experience; not once have I actually timed myself while cooking meat.
To go with the pork chop, I chose to make some spaghetti with sauce. A very basic staple for any student or household
-=Spaghetti=-
3 oz Spaghetti
2 oz Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce
Note that the above portion sizes are just estimates. To make the spaghetti, heat a pot of water on HIGH. When the water is boiling, toss in the desired amount of pasta. To check if the pasta is ready, take any utensil and lift out a strand of pasta. If it is completely limp, or almost so, it's done. All in all, this takes about 10-15 minutes. Using the lid of the pot to block the pasta, carefully drain the water out into the sink. Leaving the pasta in the pot, pour the desired amount of sauce over the pasta. Return the pot to the stove, dropping the heat down to LOW and mixing, until the sauce has been heated. Serve.
Total cooking time: 20 minutes (you might be thinking, wait, that pork chop took at least 10-15 mins, and so did the pasta. How does that come to just 20 minutes? Simple, start boiling the water when you begin cooking the pork. Multitasking when cooking isn't difficult, it takes out a lot of the boring waiting, and, it goes without saying, saves a lot of time)
Cost:
Pork Chop: 2.98/lb for a pack of 8 --> 5 oz => $0.93
Honey: $10.99 for 80 fl oz --> ~1 fl oz => $0.14
Dijon Mustard: $4.29 for 16 oz --> ~1/2 oz => $0.13
Spaghetti: $0.79 for a 16 oz box --> 3 oz => $0.15
Sauce: $1.49 for 24 oz jar --> 2 oz => $0.12
Total cost: ~$1.47
That's right. Just $1.47. What can you get with a buck forty-seven if you eat out? A small bag of fries. Or maybe a palm sized fast food burger. Instead, you've got yourself a delicious pork chop with pasta, in about as much time as it would take to drive out, order, and drive back. This is Jet, signing off. Happy cooking!
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