There are two things the Internets didn’t know about me until this moment:
- I love to cook. Creatively. Which means I make a mess.
- I hate to clean.
Enter this fabulous one-skillet meal of Pork Chops, Green Beans, and Incredible Gravy. All from my Gran’s prized cast-iron skillet. It’s the easiest meal to clean-up!
Ingredients:
- Olive Oil
- 1 cup Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
- a dash (or two or three) of Ground Cayenne Pepper
- 1 cup of Milk
- 3-6 Pork Chops
- 2 handfuls of Fresh Green Beans (one handful per person)
- 2 slices Turkey Bacon
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2 cups of Milk for Gravy
Directions:
I love cooking in cast iron, so if you can get your hands on a cast iron skillet, I highly recommend using that to create this meal. Start by pouring about 1/4″ of olive oil into the pan, and turn on medium-high heat. While this is heating, in a separate bowl combine 1 cup of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of seasoning salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, and a few dashes of cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you like it. In another bowl, pour the cup of milk.
I check the oil to make sure it’s hot enough by flicking a couple of drops of water into the pan to see if it sizzles. When it’s ready, dip the pork chops in the milk, and then coat them in the flour mixture. I turn the chops a couple of times to make sure there is a good flour coating. I place all three pork chops into the oil in the skillet at the same time. Depending on thickness, I’ve found that they need to cook for at least a good five minutes on each side. If I need to check them, I cut into them with a knife to make sure the pink is gone. While the pork chops are cooking, I wash the green beans, trimming the ends off as I go.
When the pork chops are good, ready, done and cooked, I place them in the oven on a warm setting to make sure they don’t get cool. With the oil still at medium-high, I toss in the freshly washed green beans. I add the garlic cloves minced, and the turkey bacon cut into small strips. We use turkey bacon because it is what we keep on hand, but believe me, if you want to use real bacon, you won’t be sorry. And if you haven’t ever had turkey and garlic together before, you’re going to want to remember this combination: it is way too yummy.
I toss the green beans, garlic and bacon in the oil a couple of times before covering the skillet with a lid. At this point in time, I have to practice patience. You’d think that these green beans would take a couple of minutes, but they’re actually quite slow cookers. They definitely cook better covered with a lid, and over the course of ten to fifteen minutes, I usually stir them a couple of times. They are done whenever they start to look wrinkly and are slightly browned. They are very hard to over-cook! Season them with a few dashes of salt and pepper before you pull them off the heat. I add the finished green beans and all bacon pieces to the same tray that is warming the pork chops in the oven.
Side note: if you ever want to make just the green beans, no pork chops, use a little bit less oil. Let the beans stick to the bottom of the pan, turning several times while cooking, and at the end of the cooking process deglaze the pan with about 1/4 cup of beer. Nom, nom, nom.
Anyway, back to the One Skillet Pork Chops. After you’ve pulled the green beans from the oil, take the remaining flour mixture and add it to the oil to make a roux. Wikepedia defines roux as:
Roux is most often made with butter as the fat base, but it may be made with any edible fat.
In this case, the olive oil is our edible (and non-saturated!) fat. That makes me feel less guilty about it.
If you need to add a bit more flour at this point, feel free. I leave my roux a little bit runny and don’t like it too thick. After the roux is mixed, I add about two cups of milk, and more if necessary. I leave the heat on medium-high, constantly stirring while the mixture starts to thicken. When it’s finished, I turn the heat down to low to keep it warm, but we serve it up immediately. This makes a huge batch of thick gravy, but it’s what makes this recipe so yummy. The flavors of the pork chops, bacon and garlic merge with the pepper-y seasonings of the flour mixture, and, well…nom, nom, nom.
I sometimes keep a pan of potatoes on boil in the background while I’m cooking so that I can make a quick simple batch of mashed potatoes, but next time we make this I’m going to cut new potatoes into quarters and cook them with the green beans, keeping it to one skillet. I’ll let you know how it goes!
I make this recipe to serve two. If you need to increase the servings, you’ll have plenty of flour for the pork chops and gravy, but you might want to grab a couple more handfuls of green beans, add another slice or two of bacon, and possibly add an additional clove of garlic. If you want to make additional gravy, you can probably just add a bit more milk. This recipe is the hardest thing in the world to mess up!
Enjoy!
