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Escalloped Pork Chops
Take the required number of potatoes, pare and slice into roasting pan; also slice one large onion, season with salt, put chops on top and season slightly with salt and pepper. Pour large cup of water in at side of the pan and roast in a moderate oven till done. Lamb or mutton chops are also good this way-omitting the onion. Mrs. W. J. Dillon.
A one-pan supper of the sort church cookbooks collected by the dozen. The original assumes you know how long a chop takes; the notes below fill in the numbers.
- Oven temperatureA "moderate oven" of this period is usually read as about 350-375F. The recipe says nothing about covering; covering for the first stretch and uncovering at the end to brown is a modern addition, not part of the original.
- TimingFigure 45 to 60 minutes for 3/4-inch bone-in chops over sliced potatoes, until the potatoes give easily to a knife. Cover the pan with foil for the first 30 minutes so the potatoes steam, then uncover.
- Pork has changedChops of this period were generally fattier and were cooked well done; modern pork is bred lean and dries out. Take it to 145F measured in the thickest part, away from the bone, and rest it at least 3 minutes. If your chops are thin, brown them separately and lay them on the potatoes for the last 20 minutes.
- "Large cup of water"Read this as a generous cup, about 8 to 10 oz. The recipe directs it in at the side of the pan rather than over the chops, though it does not say why. Stock or milk in place of water will give a richer result.
- Potato thicknessSlice about 1/8 inch, thin enough that they cook through in the time the chops need. Uneven thick slices are the usual reason this dish comes out with raw potato in the middle.
- "Required number"Reckon one chop and one medium potato per person, in a pan where the potatoes lie two or three layers deep. A 9x13 dish holds four to six servings.
- SeasoningSalt each layer of potato, not just the top. A single seasoning at the surface leaves the interior flat.
"Escalloped" (also scalloped) in American cookbooks of this era means food baked in a dish in layers, usually with a liquid, milk or a crumb topping, rather than anything to do with shellfish; the word is generally traced to the same root as scallop, by way of the shell-shaped dishes such food was once served in. The appeal of a dish like this is plain: cheap cuts, potatoes on hand, and no attention required once it is in the oven. The Libertyville Presbyterian book, like hundreds of other church and ladies' aid compilations printed between about 1890 and 1920, credits each recipe to the woman who gave it, so Mrs. W. J. Dillon's name sits on the page as both signature and endorsement.