A Wonderful, Magical Animal

Fans of "The Simpsons" will probably recognize the title as a quote from the episode in which Lisa becomes a vegetarian. Homer is utterly confused by her decision, questioning her about whether that means she'll never eat any animal, that she won't eat bacon? No. Ham? No. Pork chops? Lisa points out those are all from the same aminal, and Homer replies, with heavy sarcasm, "Yeah, right, Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal."

So in my household, when we eat pork, which we do often, it's the magical animal. Admittedly, I've read some horror stories about how pigs are raised and how they're treated at slaughter, and that pigs are quite intelligent. Those things do give me pause sometimes, and it may be that at a future point in my life I give up pork, as I have done in the past. Unfortunately, bacon alone can make a vegetarian fall off the wagon--nothing compares to it, in either aroma or flavor. Ham runs a close second in terms of versatility and flavor appeal. Both are very useful to have around and are delicious at any time of day.

The other two pork treatments that get the most play in my household are baby back ribs--I always make my own barbecue sauce and bake the ribs, couldn't be easier--and pork chops. Early in our marriage my husband and I visited my paternal grandparents one day and my grandmother fixed pork chops and gravy (along with her usual seemingly endless assortment of vegetable side dishes, most using produce from her own large garden). To this day those pork chops remain as the pinnacle of pork for Fred. It's hard to compete with the memory of a dish, because in memory the dish is always better than we can possibly recreate. Not to mention which, pork seems to keep getting leaner and leaner--I distinctly recall more fat on pork chops I had in my childhood than you could possibly find today, though rib chops usually have at least a bit of fat. However, I think my pork chops are pretty good; the secret is mainly in the cooking time--as in, a couple of hours, if you want them fork tender.

For a changeup in my pork habits, I recently tried a recipe from Cook's Country that didn't quite do it for me, but I liked the idea of it, so I adapted the recipe to my own preferences. This is a way to use pork chops that doesn't require hours of cooking but the meat is still pretty tender, and the sauce is yummy (for which we can thank the heavy cream).

Pork With Mushrooms and Noodles (serves 2)

2 thin-cut pork chops (they don't have to be the wafer-thin breakfast chops, just not the big thick ones--about 1/2" thick is good)
2 Tbls. flour
2 Tbls. butter
4-8 ozs. mushrooms, quartered (depending on how much you like mushrooms)
1/2 onion, chopped fine
1/2 c. white wine
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/2 lemon
2 Tbls. heavy cream
A couple of handfuls of washed baby spinach leaves
Cooked pasta, whatever kind and however much you like

Cut the meat off the bone and then cut it into small, bite-size pieces; you don't want big hunks because you want them to cook through quickly. Salt and pepper the meat, then dredge it lightly in the flour. Don't discard the flour. Melt 1 Tbls. butter in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook until browned on both sides. Personally, I like to be extra-sure pork is cooked through so I go with 4-5 minutes per side here and then test the thickest piece to make sure it's properly done and for some reason it's not, I can cook longer. They need to be thoroughly cooked since they really won't cook more than a minute or two at the end.

Remove the meat to a plate. Melt the remaining butter and add the mushrooms, onion (seriously, take your time and chop the onion finely--don't be lazy about it--this doesn't cook that long and you don't want big chunks of onion here), and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until the vegetables are browned and tender, about 8 minutes or so. Stir in the flour left over from the dredging and cook about one minute to remove the flour-y taste. Whisk in the wine and the broth and simmer until the sauce is a bit thickened. Return the pork and any juices from the meat to the pan. Add the lemon juice, heavy cream and spinach. Let cook for a minute or two, until the spinach is wilted to your liking.

Serve over pasta--but you know what, I might try this with mashed potatoes sometime, on a cold day, or what passes for cold days around here.