The Kids are cooking with Giada DeLaurentis tonight!!!

Last year, we took the kids to see Giada host a kids kitchen at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.  The kids loved it.  I highly recommend it to those of you in the South Florida Area. It is coming up as it takes place every February. The kids have fun, they play games, they are given alot of free stuff such as fun, healthy snacks, toys, towels, etc. and then Giada demonstrates some cooking techniques that kids can handle. Some of the children are even picked to help.  We always liked Giada before the cooking "class" but she has been one of the kids favorite chef's ever since.  So tonight, when I asked what they wanted to have for dinner...My daughter ran over to the Cookbook that is always displayed on our counter.  Giada's- Everyday Italian.  It was her turn to pick the meal and she seemed to already know what she wanted.

This cookbook is one I think every household should have.  It has easy to follow italian staples that you can serve for a week night meal or impress guests as well.  It was an easy choice tonight.  My daughter, who tends to be the pickier of the two, decided we should make one of our favorites: Pork Milanese.  There was no disagreement from the peanut gallery so I made sure we had everything we needed and we set out to make dinner.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I always have the kids get out every ingredient first, then we measure everything for the entire meal.  It is the best way to teach kids to cook and gets them more involved. I always keep Boneless Pork chops on hand... Everything else in this recipe, I always have on hand in the pantry so this is one of those meals you don't have to think about. It goes well with just about any vegetable but we decided on Zucchini.  Add a side of linguine, garnished with a little butter, cheese and parsley and Voila, a lovely meal for 4 and it takes only 20 minutes or so and costs under $15!!  The best part is that we made the zucchini super kid friendly and they both ate every bite. 
We have adapted Giada's recipe a bit and the remaining information on the post will be written completely by the daughter. I will place the full recipe with instructions at the bottom of the post.... We are also going to add some pictures.  Hope you enjoy.

Below is my 8 year old daughter's version:

First, we got all the ingredients together. Mommy said that was tthe most important so we keep organized.  The ingredients were:
1 cup of flour in a small bowl
2 eggs mixed in a bowl
1 bowl of  1 and 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup of romano cheese, a hand ful of fresh basil chopped and a sprinkle of thyme.
4 boneless pork loins
3 medium size zucchini
Linguine
Lemon juice
Olive Oil
Next we cut up the zucchini.   My mom had us scoop out the seeds from the zucchini and then slice it so it looked like a moon.  She said this would make it taste better for kids.

 Then we pounded the pork.  When we finished pounding the pork we mixed the egg. Then we diped the pork into the flour, then the egg, then the breadcrumbs. Then we put the pork in the pan.  We cooked until it was brown and crispy on both sides.  Then we put it in baking and put it in the oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.
Then we cooked the pasta. About 10 minutes ( mommy said to follow the directions on the box)

Then we took the cutup zucchini, 1tablespoon of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and salt & pepper and mixed it in a bowl and sprayed a frying pan with Pam Olive Oil Spray.  We sauteed the zucchini for about 7-8 minutes until it was cooked but still crunchy.

When the pasta was finished we added some butter, parsley and salt.

We took the pork out of the oven and put it all on plate.  We sprinkled romano cheese on the pasta. 

We had fun making it and we all ate everything on our plate.  Even the zucchini.  My mommy was right, the zucchini was crunchy without the seeds, not mushy at all and I ate every bit.  I really like cooking.

RECIPE:

Pork Milanese with sauteed Zucchini and pasta
Ingredients:

4- 6 oz pork loins, pounded thin

1 Cup of Flour

1 1/2 cups of Panko Breadcrumbs

1/2 cup of grated romano cheese ( or parmesan)

handful of fresh basil chopped

tsp of thyme

2 eggs lightly beated

2 medum zucchini, sliced lengthwise with the seeds scooped out.

1/2 pound of lingquine

3 tablespoons olive oil

lemon juice

salt and pepper



Directions:

1) Put a pot of salted boiling water on the stove for the pasta.

2) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3) Heat 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan. Dip the pork in the flour and then shake. Then dip in the egg finally in the breadcrumbs and place into the hot pan.

4) Brown the pork on both sides and then place in baking dish and place in the oven. Let it cook about 10-12 minutes until fully cooked.

5) Meanwhile, put the past in the water and cook according to the directions on the box.

6) Slice the zucchini about 1/2 inch thick. It will look like 1/2 moons. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a nonstick pan on the stove and spray with Pam Olive Oil Spray. Add the zucchini. Pour 2 tablespoons of lemon juice on top and cook until desired doneness. We like ours on the crunchy side.
7) Pasta should be finished, drain, add some butter, salt and pepper and parsley.

8) Place one piece of pork, pasta sprinkled with cheese and zucchini on each plate. Voila - dinner is served.
Serve the Pork with some lemon slices