We’ve been eating mostly Asian for the last few days, and I wanted something different, plus it’s Flag Day, and there’s something weird about a Thai green curry on Flag Day. Oh. The other thing is that I’m tired of chicken–not sick of it, but I need a break from it.
So I went to the store and bought bacon, some nice thick pork chops (bone-in!), and since we were out, potatoes. We’re having American on Flag Day.
First, get a bunch of bacon–I’d say about 8 or 9 strips (I hope you buy thick-cut, and hickory smoked — what’s this obnoxious uncured bacon crap doing in the stores?) — and toss it on the broiler pan. Stick it under the broiler until it’s nice and crisp. Drain it, and reserve the grease — and do your best not to eat it.
Yes, all of it. You’re going to need enough left in the pan after you cook the pork chops to make gravy. All of it.
Peel the potatoes, and cut them up (they cook faster that way). Add salt and water, bring to a boil, and turn down the heat. While the potatoes are cooking, you can cook the chops.
Put about 1/4 cup of flour on a plate, season generously with salt and pepper, and mix well. Heat the bacon grease in a good heavy pan over high, and dredge the chops in the seasoned flour on both sides. You don’t want a “light dusting” of flour, because you’re going to make gravy.
When the grease is nice and hot, add the chops. Cook them without turning until nice and brown on the bottom, then turn them over, and turn down the heat to medium-low. Let the chops cook for about 10 minutes, and when they’re brown on the other side, turn them over again, and cook them for an additional 5 minutes (you’ll have to adjust the time depending on how thick your chops are — just be careful not to overcook them, or they’ll be dry).
Remove the chops to a plate. Drain the potatoes, and start them mashing in the mixer with a little bit of milk and a lot of butter (I use 1 stick butter to every 4 potatoes). While the mixer is going, add enough flour from the plate to the grease to make a roux. Add milk (about a cup for each tablespoon of flour you added), and stir constantly over high heat, scraping at the bottom of the pan, until it thickens. If it’s too thick, add some more milk (etc., etc., etc.)
Remember the bacon? Is there any left, or did you eat it all? If you managed to resist, crumble it up and stir it into the gravy. Eat the chops with mashed potatoes and lots of gravy on top.
That’s what we’re having on Flag Day.
Oh. Speaking of PETA, you gotta love a newspaper whose editors use the phrase, “animal rights terrorists.”
