Shawn's Pork Cutlet Mornay

Don't forget that we're looking for cookie recipes!  Our Christmas Cookie Contest is on and we're ready to bake (and eat -- poor us) the cookies you love best.  Please send your recipes to KristaDavis at KristaDavis dot com.  This year we'll have ten finalists, and you get to pick the winner!  Wendy is putting together a prize that every cookie baker will love.  Stay tuned to learn more.  And send us those recipes!


Our easy holiday dinner begins on Saturday.  If you're debating what to make for Thanksgiving or Christmas, be sure to check our menu!

Shawn Stevens!

You may recall a recent post in which people shared the best meals they ever had.  Shawn, one of our readers, told us about her favorite meal, Pork Cutlet Mornay.  Of course I had to try it!



So when company came to visit, I made Shawn's dish and it was a huge hit.  If you love the combination of tomato sauce and melted cheese (and who doesn't?), you'll adore this dish.  I doubled the sauce as Shawn recommends and served it over linguini.


The only problem I ran into was finding pork cutlets.  I didn't expect that.  A pork cutlet is a lovely boneless lean piece of pork that is almost oval.  It's cut from the sirloin end of the loin.  Unfortunately, my store didn't have any, so I went to my favorite cut of pork, the tenderloin, and cut it into medallions.  It worked out fine.

Here's the recipe that Shawn was kind enough to share with us!

Pork Cutlet Mornay

6 pork sirloin cutlets                               
2 eggs, beaten                                       
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (may need more depending on how much breading you like)                     
1/4 cup vegetable oil    
2 tablespoon water
2-8 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
paprika

Dip pork cutlets into egg and then coat with bread crumbs.   Melt oil; brown cutlets over medium heat.  Add water and reduce heat.  Cover and cook over low heat until done; about 30 minutes.  Arrange cutlets in ungreased 13 x 9 baking dish (spoon in any sauce left in pan).  Top each cutlet with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce (pour any remaining sauce in bottom of baking  dish).  Pour mornay sauce (below) on pork and sprinkle with cheese and paprika.

Set oven to 550 degrees.  Cook until cheese is bubbly.

Mornay Sauce

1 tablespoon margarine                                        
1 tablespoon flour                                                  
1/8 teaspoon salt                                               
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper  
1/2 cup chicken broth       
1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Melt margarine in pan.  Blend in flour salt, nutmeg and pepper.   Cook over low heat; stirring constantly, until smooth.  Immediately add in half-and-half and broth.   Heat to boil, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  Stir in cheese until melted.

NOTE:  I double the sauce recipe.  We place the pork on pasta and top with sauce.  Enjoy!

Thanks, Shawn!
Everyone, even my picky eaters, loved this dish.