My Prairie Cookbook (18 page)

For the Marinade:

2 cups (480 ml) milk

2 teaspoons salt

4 (½-inch/12-mm-thick) pork chops, with or without the bone (about 2 pounds/910 g total)

For the Applesauce:

3 pounds (1.4 kg) mixed apples

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon apple-cider vinegar

1 dried bay leaf

¼ teaspoon ground allspice

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Marinate the pork chops: Stir together the milk and salt in a shallow 3-quart (2.8-L) dish, then add the pork chops. Marinate them, covered and refrigerated and turning over once, for at least 1 hour.

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Make the applesauce: While the chops marinate, peel, core, and chop the apples, then stir them together with the sugar, vinegar, bay leaf, and allspice in a heavy 3-quart (2.8-L) saucepan. Bring them to a simmer, stirring occasionally, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the apples are falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and mash the apples with a fork. Keep the applesauce warm.

For the Pork Chops:

3½ cups (190 g) fresh bread crumbs (from 10 slices firm white sandwich bread, ground in a food processor)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1 teaspoon salt

2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

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Fry the pork chops: Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C).

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Stir together the bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, thyme, and salt in a shallow bowl. Lift the pork chops from the milk one at a time, letting any excess drip off, and dredge them in the bread crumbs, lightly patting the crumbs on to help them adhere. Transfer the chops to a tray in a single layer.

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Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 12-inch (30.5-cm) heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Sauté the chops in 2 or 3 batches, without crowding, turning them over once, until golden brown and just cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per batch. Transfer them to a platter and keep warm in the oven. Add more oil and butter to the skillet as needed.

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Serve the pork chops with the warm applesauce.

I've made this dish many times for friends and family. I love to watch everyone get covered in barbecue sauce. (Keep plenty of paper towels around.) It's great at home or on a camping trip, at the beach, wherever. Serve with Mikey B's Favorite Fried Corn (
this page
) and Cucumber-Dill Salad (
this page
). These ribs are also amazing served cold the next day. You can make your own barbecue sauce if you have a favorite recipe. I like to mix three or four different bottled barbecue sauces together to create my own signature sauce; it's a lot of fun to blend different flavor combinations each time.

Serves 4 to 6

4 dried bay leaves

¼ cup (75 g) garlic salt

¼ cup (30 g) Old Bay Seasoning

¼ cup (30 g) onion powder

¼ cup (30 g) paprika

¼ cup (75 g) seasoned salt

¼ cup (30 g) ground celery seed

¼ cup (30 g) dry mustard

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 racks baby back ribs (about 2 pounds/910 g each), membrane on back of ribs removed

3 cups (720 ml) barbecue sauce

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Fill a large pot with cold water, stir in all of the spices, put the ribs in the pot, and weigh them down so they are submerged (I use a small stainless-steel frying pan that fits into the pot). Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

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Meanwhile, preheat a gas or charcoal grill to high.

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Remove the ribs from the pot and discard the liquid. Grill the ribs for 20 minutes per side, basting with some of the barbecue sauce until they are sticky and coated. Serve them hot with more barbecue sauce on the side.

One of the real Laura Ingalls's favorite things to do was to play catch with a blown-up pig's bladder that her Pa would make for her when he was butchering hogs. I'll do that the day pigs can fly. So, instead of instructions on how to make your own pig's bladder ball, I'm including my recipe for baked ham. It's just so much more . . . pleasant. This deceptively simple ham is absolutely delicious.

Serves 12, with plenty of leftovers

1 (14- to 16-pound/6.3- to 7.2-kg) fully cooked bone-in ham

20 to 30 whole cloves

½ cup (110 g) packed light brown sugar

Grated zest of 2 lemons

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Take the ham out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before you are ready to bake it.

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Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

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Peel off the ham skin, but leave the fat. Make a crisscross pattern across the ham with a sharp knife, creating a diamond pattern. Place the ham in a shallow roasting pan, and stick 2 or 3 whole cloves into each diamond.

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Mix the brown sugar with the lemon zest in a small bowl. Rub it all over the ham. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake for about 45 minutes more, until a knife inserted in the middle comes out hot. Let the ham cool slightly before carving.