Pork Oscar…

Today is my birthday! I went back yesterday to see what I wrote about last year…food. No surprise there. I’ve mentioned my favorite birthday dinners from when I was a kid; last year, I wrote about my favorite dinner when I was a teenager, Veal Oscar, that I had at the Shadowbrook Restaurant in Shrewsbury, NJ.

Once I read last year’s blog post, I decided to make a version of veal oscar using pork instead of veal this year. Veal Oscar is one of those fabulous lost old school dishes that adorned menus back in the day, along with Steak Diane, Beef Wellington, and Lobster Thermador.

Veal Oscar is a culinary creation served for the first time on September 18, 1897, and said to have been named in honor of Sweden’s King Oscar II, who was especially partial to its ingredients. The dish consists of sautéed veal cutlets topped with crab (or occasionally lobster) meat, and an emulsified butter sauce such as Hollandaise or Béarnaise. Traditionally Veal Oscar is garnished with 2 white asparagus spears, In modern times, the dish is often made with steak. Wikipedia.

Marty took me out to breakfast this morning; then, I hit the supermarket to pick up the ingredients for dinner. I purchased a package of boneless pork chops, asparagus, and two frozen lobster tails.

When we got home, I did my mise en place for dinner. I pounded the pork chops thinly, making them now scaloppini. Scaloppine is a type of Italian dish that comes in many forms. It consists of thinly sliced or pounded meat such as beef, veal, chicken, or pork that is dredged in flour and sautéed in one of a variety of sauces. Wikipedia.

I cut the ends off the asparagus and blanched in salt water, then shocked in cold water. I made a quick poaching liquid or court-bouillon for the lobster tail. I pulled them out, let them cool, and then removed the lobster meat.

I made béarnaise sauce, one of the mother sauces, and set it aside in the double boiler bowl to be reheated later.

I made wild rice as a side dish and used my rice cooker for ease. I threw in the rice, water, and a bunch of seasonings, salt, and pepper. I turned it on and knew it would be perfect in an hour. This is one of the only small appliances I use weekly.

Finally, I made my cherry pie. I made a homemade gluten-free pie crust but didn’t have it in me to make the cherry filling from scratch as I usually do. It wasn’t my prettiest pie, but it looks ok. I picked up some vanilla ice cream to serve with the pie.

Dinner came together quickly. It took 5 minutes to sauté the pork scaloppine; I promptly sautéed the asparagus and lobster meat in butter while reheating the béarnaise sauce.

I plated chef style tonight, making everyone’s plate for them the way I wanted it to be presented on the plate. I plated it the traditional way with the scaloppine on the bottom topped with asparagus, then lobster, and finished with béarnaise sauce.

It was nice that Noah came over after work, and the four of us could celebrate my birthday by having dinner together. Everyone loved the meal; I was happy with how it came out; it was restaurant quality. Yay!

For dessert, the cherry pie came out better than I initially thought, satisfying the craving that I’ve had since Saturday night.

Thanks to everyone who wished me Happy Birthday either on Facebook, Instagram, text, email, or on my blog. You all know how to make a girl feel special. 🥰