Pork Chops a la City Chicken

Good Monday to all.  Welcome to my new followers and thanks to all who take time from their busy lives to read this blog.  It is much appreciated, and I hope that the information found here is useful.

Back in the 1930’s, if you lived in a city, chickens were very difficult to get and very expensive.  Pork, on the other hand, was plentiful and cheap.  Creative cooks dreamed up a dish called City Chicken that consisted of cubes of pork which were threaded on skewers, rolled in seasoned flour, browned in oil and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

Recently I had some pork chops to cook and decided make them in the City Chicken fashion.  So I dipped them in seasoned flour, browned them, added broth and cooked them in the oven.  When they were done, I had yummy pork chops with a nice gravy to serve with them.

Pork Chops a la City Chicken
6 pork chops (about 4-6 oz. each)
1/2 c. flour
2 t. seasoned salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. pepper, coarse ground if possible
3 T. vegetable oil
2 T. dried, minced onion
1 (14 oz.) can low-sodium chicken broth
Water

Trim chops of any visible fat.  Set aside.  Combine flour, seasoned salt, garlic powder, and pepper in a shallow pan.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Dredge pork chops in seasoned flour mixture.  Cook in hot oil until browned.  Remove to a 9x13-inch baking pan as the chops brown.  Reserve excess flour mixture.  Add chicken broth and onion to skillet.  Heat till boiling, scraping up any browned bits in skillet.  Pour liquid mixture over chops.  Cover with foil and bake in 350-degree oven until tender, about 1 hour.  Remove chops from baking pan and keep warm.  Pour liquid into a saucepan.  Combine reserved flour mixture with water to make a smooth paste.  Stir into liquid in the saucepan and bring to a boil.  Heat and stir until thickened.  Add additional water if gravy is too thick.  Taste and adjust seasoning.  Add a bit of chicken bouillon if gravy seems too bland.  Makes 6 servings.

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Steak Strips in Leek and Red Pepper Gravy

When I purchased leeks for this month's  Eating the Alphabet, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them.  After I picked a recipe to post, I had extra leeks.  This is one of the recipes that I made.  Although I rarely cook with leeks, I put red pepper anywhere I can get away with it.  The combination of leek and red peppers sounded good to me.

I had purchased some London Broil (round steak) on sale and wasn’t quite sure I what I wanted to do with it.  None of the recipes I found appealed to me.  Maybe because it has been so hot here the last few days, and I didn’t want to use the oven.  I ended up putting together something that did sound good to me and could be done on the stove top.

I remembered a Season Salt mixture that Tiffany had posted over at Eat at Home.  I adapted it and coated all my steak strips with the seasoning salt.  This gave lots of flavor to the gravy.

I served this over mashed potatoes, but it could be served over noodles or rice.  Hubby approved, and I will be making this again.

Steak Strips in Leek and Red Pepper Gravy
1 leek sliced into 1/4-inch rings
2 T. olive oil, divided
2 t. Kosher salt
3/4 t. coarse ground pepper
1/4 t. paprika (smoked if you have it)
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. onion powder
3 or 4 turns of Spice Islands Chipotle Chili Seasonings Grinder
1 lb. thick cut round steak cut into 1x2x1/4-inch strips
1 (14 oz.) can beef broth or two cups water and 2 t. Better than Bouillon Beef Flavor Paste
half a medium size red pepper cut into short julienne strips
3 T. flour
1/3 c. water

Place leeks in a bowl of water and swish around to remove any grit and dirt.  Pour water off.  Rinse leeks again and drain.  Place leeks in a clean dish towel and squeeze to dry.  Heat 1 T. olive oil in a medium skillet.  Cook leeks over medium heat until soft.  Remove from skillet and set aside.  Meanwhile combine salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and onion powder and chili seasonings in a medium size bowl.  Mix well.  Add beef strips and mix well.  Make sure that all strips get some of the seasoning salt mix.  Heat second T. of olive oil in the same skillet that you cooked the leeks in.  Add steak strips in a single layer and brown well on both sides.  Remove steak strips to the container with leeks as they brown adding more strips to skillet until all strips are browned.  Return leeks and steak strips to skillet.  Add broth and red pepper.   Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and cook 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix flour with 1/3 c. water until well blended.  Slowly add to skillet mixture, stirring constantly.  Boil 2 to 3 minutes until mixture is thickened to gravy consistency.  Serve over mashed potatoes, noodles, or rice.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

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Chicken Fried Steak Cubes with Country Gravy

I must warn you that this is not a healthy dish.  It is, however, a dish we love, so I make it once a month or so.  I grew up eating this and my kids grew up eating this.

This is one of my favorite uses for round steak.  I like it because it is simple and easy and makes meat seem to go further.  I don’t generally use a recipe, but I tried to write it out for this post.

This is served with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, green beans or other veggie and sometimes hot biscuits.

I usually don’t bother, but to make this even more “chicken fried”, the steak cubes can be dunked in a beaten egg before being dredged in the flour.

Chicken Fried Steak Cubes with Country Gravy

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. boneless round steak, cut about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
2/3 c. flour
1 t. or more seasoned salt of your choice
1/4 to 1/2 t. freshly ground pepper (depending upon how “peppery” your family likes it
enough melted shortening or vegetable oil to cover the  bottom of what ever skillet is being used to a depth of at least 1/8 inch.
3 c. milk

Pound round steak with a meat mallet on both sides.  Cut steak into 1 1/2-inch cubes.  Dip cubes in beaten egg, if desired.  Combine flour with seasoned salt and pepper.  Dredge steak cubes in flour mixture.  This can be done by putting flour in a shallow pan and rolling the cubes in the flour or by putting the flour in a plastic bag (I repurpose a bread sack) and shaking the cubes a few at a time in the bag.  Reserve any excess flour mixture.
Heat the shortening or vegetable oil in a large skillet until hot.  Place the steak cubes in the skillet in a single layer, not letting them touch each other.  (Fry cubes in two batches if necessary).  Cook cubes 2 or 3 minutes on each side until there is a nice crust, turning to cook all sides.  Remove from the skillet and keep warm.
Measure fat left in skillet.  4 to 6 tablespoons fat  will be needed to thicken 3 cups of milk.  Return fat to skillet and reheat if necessary.  Measure reserved flour mixture.  6 tablespoons will be needed.  Add plain flour to seasoned flour to make 6 tablespoons if necessary.  Add flour to fat in skillet and cook, stirring for 1 to 2 minutes to eliminate any raw flour taste.  Slowly add milk, stirring constantly, and cooking until gravy is thickened to your liking.  Add additional milk a little at a time if gravy is too thick.  Serve gravy over steak cubes and mashed potatoes.  Serves 4 to 6

Salisbury Steak with “Eat Your Veggies” Gravy

This is an easy and economical dish.  There is a bit of chopping, but if it is done ahead; the dish comes together in less than 30 min.  I chop and cook the vegetables a day or two ahead, and sometimes mix the ground beef and additions the night before.

The Salisbury Steak recipe is my own, and the gravy is one that I have been making since my children were small.  It was a way to get a few more veggies into them.  Now it works with my hubby.  If one has a child (or a husband) that would resist because they saw the veggies, the gravy can be run through a blender to make the veggies “disappear.”   Some sliced fresh mushrooms added to the vegetable mix is very nice if people like them.  Can't get mushrooms past my hubby unless I do the blender thing.

 

Salisbury Steak
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef, I use 15 or 20%
1 egg, beaten
1 T. Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. seasoned salt
1/3 c. flour
salt and pepper

Place ground beef in a bowl.  Mix egg and Worcestershire Sauce together.  Mix into ground beef.  Combine bread crumbs, garlic powder and seasoned salt.  Mix gently into ground beef.  Shape into 6 equal size patties, about 4 inches across.  Place flour in a pie pan.  Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.  Dip patties into flour coating each side.  Set patties aside on a rack or waxed paper.  Use remaining flour in the gravy.  Heat a large skillet until hot.  Add patties and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Turn patties and cook 5 to 8 more minutes until done.  Remove patties and keep warm.  Drain any fat from skillet and reserve 2 T.

“Eat Your Veggies” Gravy
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/4 of a red pepper, finely chopped
1/2 c. onion finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. butter
2 T. reserved fat from above
remaining flour from above.
1 can (14 oz.) beef broth
1/4 c. water

Melt butter in medium saucepan.  Add vegetables and cook slowly over low heat, stirring often, until they are tender, about 15 minutes.  This may be done a day or two ahead.  Store tightly covered in the refrigerator.  Heat reserved fat in skillet meat was cooked in.   Add flour and cook 1 or 2 minutes.  Stir in beef broth.  Use the 1/4 c. water to rinse beef broth can and add to skillet.   Cook and heat until thickened.  Add vegetables and heat through.  Serve over meat patties and potatoes, rice, or noodles.

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