#frying things

[overt-investigations]

It's jarring, getting stung with oil

[mealsforsquares]

Fried Pork Chops

I still had some pork chops from the package of pork chops I bought*, and A was travelling, so that meant it was time to eat some country-fried pork chops, sort of. I mean, I don’t really like the full-on buttermilk-coated pork cop that some diners make or whatever, but I can bread and fry and eat a pork chop forever. But fried pork chops need gravy, and A as a weird relationship to gravy, so this was a rare opportunity to so so.

I got a little bit of oil into the pan. I was going to use the air-fryer for this one, but I already planned to use it for the potatoes, which it is perfect for, so this was a pan situation. I pounded the remaining pork chops out as flat as I could so they would cook through quickly. I dredged the pork chops in flour, then in an egg, then into some pancko that I further seasoned with some paprika and some cayenne, and then dropped them into the oil and let them brown up, first on one side, then on the other, until they were crispy.

The potatoes I worked up by dousing them in oil and seasoned salt, like regular from Penzey’s seasoned salt. Which is fine, but not quite as good as Lawry’s. But I don’t have any Lawry’s**, so I used this little jar of penzey’s seasoned salt that I got for free because that’s how I get any of my penzey’s blends. I thought about adding some cheese powder, but I didn’t, because I figured it would probably burn or whatever, but it might have gone well on there. Maybe next time.

Potatoes and breaded pork chops seem to call for gravy. The only dairy I had around was some buttermilk***. So I started some onions in a pan with some butter and ran some mushrooms through the food processor quickly and got those working next to the onions. When the vegetables had given off their liquid I added another little bit of butter, and then sprinkled the whole thing with some flour. I poured the buttermilk in bit by bit, beating the hell out of it so that it wouldn’t form lumps, and let it get hot enough to thicken appreciably. When it had done so, I added some minced parsley and enough black pepper for it to stand up to the fried pork and all that.

I put together a quick, R-friendly salad of greens, some pepitas, some raisins, a grated carrot, and some basil, which I topped with some leftover ranch dressing. It felt like a vegetables, even though I added ranch dressing and buttermilk gravy to the same plate like I work at a damn Cracker Barrel.

It all went down pretty well, and I was especially thankful of my decision to save one of the pork chops for a sandwich the next day, which also went down pretty well. Way to go, me.

* pork prices have been super-low around here lately, which is, I’m sure, some kind of terrible indication about the utterly broken food system and the way that we interact with it, but which also super-convenient for making dinners quickly, because pork chops are one of the rare things that everyone in the house likes.

** true story: my family always had Lawry’s seasoned salt around, and used it almost exclusively on eggs. I dunno, man. I dunno.

*** and while I’m perfectly happy with what comes when you reconstitute better than bouillion into stock, it’s a little too salty for most gravy uses, and the idea here was to get something together fairly quickly, without futzing with reducing some wine or whatever (not to mention R avoids vinegar whenever you can taste it in something).

[lizapheliustime]

Breading things

So if your ever breading something to fry it try this: Dip it in flour Dip it in a scrambled egg mixture (With a tiny bit of milk) Dip it in breading for a deeper coat, have another bowl of breading, mix it with a little big of the egg mixture and stir with a fork until crumbling. Re-dip the thing your breading in flour, then pat it down with crumbly breadin, or redip it in the egg mixture and pat it with crumbly breading. fry it or bake it. You will not be disappointed.

[freethegladers]

Decorating eggs for Easter

im not even sorry

[mickeyant]

i'll fry anything once

What was the food culture in your house growing up?

I grew up in Connecticut and Rhode Island, but I have Southern roots, so a lot of the favorites at home came from that tradition: things like grits, Brunswick stew, fried okra, pulled pork barbecue.  Are chili dogs southern?  They might as well be if they aren't.  In Rhode Island I picked up an irrational obsession with clam cakes (I think they're basically hush puppies with clams in the batter) and an unreal beverage  called Del's Frozen Lemonade.

One food you won’t you eat?

I find chicken livers hard to stomach.  Otherwise, I'll pretty much try anything once.

Favorite vegetable?

Can I say olives here?  I want to say tomatoes also, but I guess they're technically a fruit.  How about broccoli rabe - that's good.  I'll go with broccoli rabe for now.

Favorite food experience?

I love New York street food.  The basics are my favorite right now - summer in the city makes you want to simplify things, like having a perfect pizza slice, or a hot dog with the red onion sauce, from the cart guy.  Something about walking and eating is very New York.  It's anathema in most other cultures - eating standing up? Walking? Ridiculous, but somehow it works in New York, and it's great, and I love it.  I try to do it at least once a week - a slice or a hot dog.  Walking through Washington Square Park in June with a hot dog covered in those cart onions - that's my idea of a good time.

Favorite appliance?

The toaster oven sees a lot of action at our place.  We've buried three or four since we've been married, so I guess I'm a serial killer of toaster ovens.  Without the refrigerator we'd be drinking hot beer, so maybe I'll say the fridge is my favorite.

Most disastrous kitchen or garden experiment:

The several batches of home-brewed beer that yielded five gallons each of perfectly undrinkable fluid.  Very discouraging.  

What’s the best lunch option near you?

I work at home often, and when left to my own devices I'll spend lunchtime standing in the kitchen eating leftovers... but the leftovers at our place are usually pretty good.  I also love Defonte's sandwich shop, one short block away from our place, and I also love Fort Defiance, because it's brilliant.

What inspires you?

In the kitchen, improvisation, mostly.  Improvisation in cooking comes from what I think of as an actively cultivated background knowledge, an understanding of the basic natures of the different ingredients you have available at any given time.  I'm always interested to know about basic, vernacular ways of food preparation, because the understanding the basics makes everything else possible.  My most enjoyable times in the kitchen are when walk in there at 6 p.m. with out the slightest clue what I'm about to make for dinner, or even what ingredients might be on hand.  For me the enjoyment of cooking is the solution of those challenges, not following recipes to the letter.  I have to experiment, observe, and try crazy things, or I'm not happy.

Your opinion: Does talking to plants help them grow?

No, not in itself.  But a side effect of talking to plants is that you're near them for a longer time.  If you're near them, you're likely to observe more about their condition, and thus more likely to see what they need - more sun, less water, etc.  It's the same as it is with people: paying attention to them lets you know what's going on.

Do you sing to them?

No, but they've witnessed several heavy metal dance parties with M. and me.

Best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

"Try again." It's something I tell M. every day.  Encouragement is so important.  I think a lot of the fears and obstacles that we face as adults connect with a fear of judgement or a fear of failure.  Failure and trying again is the way we learn real lessons, and if you look at it that way, the best thing you can do is to fail early and often!