Poor Man's Goose

A one-dish braise that leans entirely on sage and onion for its character. The original assumes a covered dish and an unhurried fire, and gives no oven setting, no quantity of chops and no yield.

• The hinge: sagePowdered sage is what makes this "goose" rather than plain braised pork. A pinch of modern ground sage is potent and bitter if overdone; a scant quarter teaspoon for four chops is enough, and rubbed sage is gentler than powdered.
• Quantity of chopsThe ingredient list never mentions the chops at all; they appear only in the method. Figure one chop per person, bone-in and at least three-quarters of an inch thick, so the meat survives a long, slow braise.
• Oven or fireThe recipe gives no temperature, no time and does not actually specify a cover; 'cook tender' simply implies slow, moist cooking. A slow oven, roughly 300-325F, loosely covered, until the meat gives is a reasonable modern reading. Over coals, bank the fire and keep the pot at a bare simmer rather than a boil.
• Cold water, and how muchThe recipe says to cover the chops with cold water. If you want a gravy worth thickening rather than a thin one, less water - coming halfway up the chops - concentrates it, but that is a change from the original.
• Thin chops and modern porkToday's pork is bred much leaner than it was when this was written. A thick shoulder chop stands up to long braising; a thin loin chop will be dry in twenty minutes, so choose accordingly.
• Timing the gravyThe cigarette measure is roughly five to seven minutes -- long enough to cook the raw taste out of the flour. Dissolve the flour in cold water and pour it into the simmering liquid in a thin stream, stirring, or it will lump.
• Seasoning orderSalt at the start, then taste the gravy again after reducing. A braise that was correctly seasoned at the outset is often too salty once the liquid has cooked down.