You may have noticed that I don’t do a lot of traditional, home-style cooking around here. There are several reasons for this, the biggest one being that I just can’t compete with Hubster’s mom or Grandma E when it comes to down home food. They are both AHmazing cooks who can make me crave a pile of fried potatoes or slice of homemade bread.
The other factor driving me away from home-style fare is the pervasive use of fat, butter, oil, Crisco, a little more fat. Does it taste good? Heck yeah! But we just can’t eat like that every day.
Of course, it doesn’t stop us both from craving a good batch of comfort food.
I was skeptical when I started this recipe. Gravy is not an easy thing to make (or at least I’m not good at it). And that degree of difficulty is ratcheted up a notch when you’re aiming for light gravy. Based on my (very limited) experience making biscuits and gravy from scratch (another Hubster fave), skim milk takes twice as long as regular milk to thicken. I assume it’s the lack of fat.
So when Hubster’s mom called as I was starting this recipe, I told him to take it because there was no way this gravy would come together in the 2 minutes the recipe suggested. Of course, a few minutes later I was eating my words and rudely (Hubster was still on the phone) exclaiming, “It worked! This is totally working! We’re eating in like 2 minutes.”
Does it beat Hubster’s mom’s or Grandma E’s pork chop? Not by a long shot. But it was really tasty, and fast, and didn’t require a 3 hour drive to KC. So it totally works for a quick craving quencher on a weekday evening.
Home-style pork chops and gravy
From Cooking Light
1 Tbsp butter
Cooking spray
¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp salt
¼ tsp dried marjoram
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp dried rubbed sage
3 or 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
½ tsp garlic powder
1½ cups skim milk
Salt and pepper
Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Combine flour, salt, dried marjoram, dried thyme, and dried rubbed sage in a shallow dish. Sprinkle pork with garlic powder, and dredge chops in flour mixture, turning to coat; shake off excess. Combine remaining flour mixture and milk in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended.
Add pork to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat, and cook for 10 minutes or until done, turning pork once. Remove pork from pan; keep warm. Add milk mixture to pan and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. Season gravy with salt and pepper.
Serve with: Mashed potatoes and steamed green beans
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