My parents grew up in southern Illinois, and occasionally I can’t
help but let loose my cooking alter ego, the southern farm gal. I grew up on dinners like these; all I
can say is you should either be bringing in the harvest or walking the dog a lot if you have these dinners more
than once in a blue moon.
Thanks to my mother’s tutelage on the making of a fine
southern gravy—to which I’ve added my own twist—tonight’s dinner was
embarrassingly easy. I defrosted a
package of pork cutlets from Triple S and pan-fried them in my super-sized cast
iron skillet, adding a sprinkle of salt and white pepper. While the microwave was doing its magic
on my frozen green beans, I whipped up a little gravy. Pork cutlets from Triple S fortunately,
or unfortunately for gravy-making, have less fat than their commercial
counterparts (hey, I’ve personally seen those pigs move), so there are very few pan drippings to use. Here’s where the southern cook part
comes in: I add a couple of
tablespoons of butter to the pan after the cutlets have been browned and
transferred to a plate on warm in the oven. After the butter has melted and blended with the pan
drippings, I whisk in about 1/3 cup of flour, creating a skillet full of little
delicious lumps. Keeping the flame
on medium, I whisk in milk a little at a time, stirring until the lumps mostly
dissolve. I keep whisking and
heating and pouring milk until the desired amount of gravy is produced (usually
around 1 1/2 cups), keeping in mind it will thicken even more as it cools. When it reaches gravy perfection, I add
salt, white and black pepper, and a teaspoon of my favorite herb, dried thyme
(yes, the thyme is the “twist” I mentioned earlier). I simmer a couple of minutes more on low heat, and then pour
the gloppy deliciousness into my Fiestaware gravy boat.
My mom taught me that milk gravy is always made from chicken
or pork drippings, but beef should be accompanied by a water gravy, using beef
broth or the water from cooked vegetables as the liquid instead of milk. She also taught me that biscuits are not
necessary; all you need is a fine slice of high-quality bread to soak it
up. In our case, a slice of rye
bread from Pekara bakery worked very nicely. Gravy can be poured over the bread, over the bread and
veggies, or over your entire plate of food.
My boys focused more on the gravy than the meat, so there
will be leftover cutlets for tomorrow’s dinner. I’m already making plans…
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