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Breaded Pork Chops, Milk Gravy
Dip pork chops in egg, then in bread crumbs or cracker crumbs, season well with salt and pepper, and fry in hot frying pan or hot deep fat until well cooked. If frying pan is used, cover pan after searing. Add flour to the fat in the frying pan, brown together, then add milk slowly till gravy is of right consistency to serve. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Worcestershire Sauce.
A standard breaded chop with a pan gravy built in the same skillet. The recipe assumes you know the proportions, so the useful additions are numbers.
- BreadingEgg alone slides off; dredge the chops in seasoned flour first, then egg, then crumbs. Season the crumb mixture as well as the meat, since salt on the surface of the chop is largely lost to the coating.
- "Until well cooked"Pork was commonly cooked right through in this period, often attributed to fear of trichinosis. Current guidance is 145F at the centre with a three-minute rest, which for a 3/4-inch chop is roughly 4 minutes a side plus a few minutes covered.
- Covering the panThe instruction to cover after searing is deliberate and worth keeping for thick chops: it steams the interior through without burning the crumbs. Uncover for the last minute to re-crisp.
- Deep fatIf you take the deep-fry option, 350-360F is the working range. Chops thicker than an inch will colour before the centre is done, so keep them thin for that method.
- Gravy proportionsRoughly equal flour and fat by volume -- 2 tablespoons of each -- to 1 cup of milk gives a pourable gravy. Pour off excess frying fat before you start, or the gravy will be greasy.
- Adding the milkAdd it in a thin stream while whisking, and let the mixture come back to a simmer between additions. Cook at least two minutes after it thickens to lose the raw-flour taste.
- WorcestershireA teaspoon is enough for a cup of gravy; it is there for depth, not flavour of its own. Salt last, as the sauce and the pan drippings both bring salt with them.
- YieldFigure one chop per person and about a cup of gravy for four.