Ham Salad, Pimento Cheese, Chicken Salad, Turkey Salad

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My first trip cross country alone was in 1973. I was heading to California. I had been transferred from Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida to Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, California. I flew to Kansas City from Jax, where I bought a brand new 1973 Camaro, bright red of course. I hit the road on March 1st. It was snowing as I left Liberty, a little town outside of KC. Elmer, from across the street, who was also my best friends Dad, and who was a truck driver mapped out my route. I-35 south, to US-54, to the I-40/ Route 66 taking me into California. That was Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Since then, I have driven cross country many times, but something that my Dad did for that first trip is a must. Dad made up some ham salad and some pimento cheese sandwiches. I think there were a half dozen of each in my styrofoam cooler on that trip.

Now ham salad, pimento cheese, turkey salad, and chicken salad all take a special kitchen tool if you want to make them right. That tool is a meat grinder or some call it a food grinder.

My sister, Elaine bought me one for Christmas in the 70's and from one marriage to the next, I lost it. I bought one at a garage sale, but it had suction cups to hold it steady. That didn’t work. So I found one in an old hardware store with a screw clamp that holds it securely to a table or counter top. Now days, I use my grinder attachment on our Kitchen Aid.

The grinder is absolutely necessary for grinding the meats, cheese, pimento, and sweet pickles. Trust me, it’s just not the same chopped. Believe me, I’ve tried it.

Now, as you know, I hate when people tell me “season to taste” in a recipe. I mean I absolutely hate it. Here’s the exceptions cause I’ve never measured anything for any of these recipes. It’s all to looks and taste. So grind ‘em up and mix ‘em together. I’ve never made a bad batch.

I’ve had people tell me “this is just like my grandma used to make” or “like my Mom’s.” Apparently, no one has grinders. It’s really easy.

Pimento Cheese
One block sharp cheddar
Pimento
Miracle Whip

Ham Salad
One pound bologna
Pimento
Sweet pickles
Miracle Whip
Salt

Turkey or Chicken Salad
same as Ham salad except you substitute the meats. It works best with breasts (white meat).

There ya go. Enjoy!

Country Fried Pork Chops

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Remember a couple weeks ago, those boneless pork chops were on sale. I had picked up a few extra and froze them. (I love my Food Saver, or Suck and Seal as I refer to it) So, when doing meal planning where you’re using frozen stuff, you gotta thaw. So Saturday, we decided to have pork chops Sunday.

Now Barbi loves my blog. I’m not sure if she’s ever even read any of it. She says I need to add more pictures. What she likes about it is that it gives her a break and I cook. We then share the cleanup.

So, anyway, we’re discussing how to fix ‘dem chops and we decide “chicken fried.” Now, I’m not a big fan of bread crumb or cracker crumb breading. I like it ok, but I would rather just have a simple egg wash and a flour dip. Or, for cod, a beer batter. That’s nothing more than beer and flour. Finding a flour and egg recipe is tough so I just used my G2 as we used to say in the service and made one up. (G2 and S2 are terms for the Intelligence offices)

So that was the plan. Got the meat figured out, what to have with it. What do ya have with anything “chicken fried” or “country fried?” That’s right, GRAVY. So that means potatoes and gravy. We decided on fried but could have easily gone with mashed. Mashed is actually a heck of a lot less work if you use instant. Plus, it don’t make near the mess.

Now this recipe is exactly the same for Chicken Fried Steak except now you’re using chops instead of cubed steak. Shoot, you can even do this with hamburger.

There used to be a place in Kansas City called Rigby’s that had the best chicken fried steak ever. Unfortunately, it’s long gone.

So, here we go.



Chicken Fried Pork Chops

4 qtr pound boneless chops
1 cup flour
1 teaspn pepper
2 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil


Whisk the eggs in a bowl, mix the flour and pepper in another. Dip the chops in the egg (they call this an egg wash) and then dip in flour/pepper mix. Coat good on both sides. Then set it on some wax paper.

Now, I did a double coat, but I shoulda did a single. I like the breading, but a double was just too thick.

Heat the oil on medium high like when frying anything. Use a good size skillet so you can get all four chops in at once. When it’s good and hot put the chops in. It takes about five minutes on each side. Fry until “golden brown” and then put them on a paper towel covered plate.

Gravy

2 cups milk (Whole, 2 percent, or non fat, or even cream. Whatever you got handy.)
4 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon pepper

In a shaker or blender, mix the two cups milk with 4 tablespoons flour. Throw in about a teaspoon pepper which will give it a nice look when it’s done.
Carefully and slowly, pour this into the pan drippings. For four chops as cooked above, you should have about 4 tablespoons of pan drippings so no skimming required.
Heat, stirring constantly until it turn into a nice thick country gravy.

Fried Potatoes

2 potatoes
3 tablespoons butter or crisco
salt and pepper to taste (how’s that Bub?)

Peel and slice the potatoes about a qtr inch thick. Too thin makes ‘em more like potato chips than fried potatoes.
Use another good size skillet 12 or 13 inch. Heat butter just like you are frying anything else, medium high. Same-o, when they’re browned to your liking, flip and get the other side. This takes a good ten or so minutes on each side.

There you have it. We had canned corn on the side. Now, this is obviously not your “heart smart” recipe, but it’s hard to beat if you like flavor. Speaking of flavor. If you want a little more flavor in your gravy, use the other half of that Jimmy Dean sausage you had left over from those stuffed pork chops, too.

Speaking of leftovers, leftover chops and chicken fried steak makes great sandwiches. I like 57 sauce and dill pickle.

Enjoy!