Thursday, February 21, 2008

1950s budget menu: pork chops

Score one for 1950s porkchops! This baked recipe from Emeril was a winner (minus the Pecorino and subbing a little broth for the wine).

When the sun rises, let's compare photos of canned vs. frozen peas--which gives more value?

Click here to return to the complete 1950s budget cooking experiment!

27 comments:

Elena LaVictoire said...

Oh my goodness Meredith - that looks delicious. I have to try that one!!

Anonymous said...

If you are feeding your family like that for $67 a week...

I'm a convert!

Sammy

Anonymous said...

That chop look s like its breaded pretty thick. I s that low carb?

Renee said...

We had pork chops as well last night. I have recently been getting frozen veggies like peas, green beans,california blend, cauliflower, and corn. They do seem different as the canned variety of peas seems mushy to me. I have always loved green giant canned peas. My grandma always made them. But I also got used to frozen peas too.

I have been steaming all the frozen veggies in one of those metal steam baskets till they are soft so the kids, and dh will eat them.

I do like the Giant brand california blend,and their super sweet white corn(has a little crunch like off of a cob)
When on sale these seem to be a good buy. Fresh is always best but you have only a certain amount of time before everything goes bad.

Makes me want to learn how to can, and start a garden this year. Scary though as we have rock, and bad soil being on top of a mountain top. I will have to get the book square foot gardening as the dirt can not be tilled up here.

Renee

Meredith said...

Part of the grocery list included a loaf of bread, so I bought low carb from the day old rack at my grocery.

To make 1 cup bread crumbs I toasted the ends of the bread and spun them in my food processor.

I figure the added carbs of a baked pork chop is still better than the extra fat of a fried-but-not-breaded chop.

Don't tell anyone, but I could tell my husband still preferred the fried-and-breaded chops he ate last month at Shoney's. He's not getting that from my kitchen, though!

Tracy said...

Yummm...

I love peas of any sort, but the frozen seem much better to me. Almost like fresh! And they're so good tossed in a salad. I just run a little cool water over a handful in a colander. No cooking necessary!

Anonymous said...

What is the gravy? That's not in the recipe.

Meredith said...

No, but it is in the menu. I improvised.

The pork chops soak in a milk mixture with red pepper and other seasonings. I strained the marinade, brought it to a rolling boil, and reduced it to a spicy gravy with a little flour.

I really should have just saved the time and eliminated the gravy. It had a lot of kick, but didn't add too much to the meal. I think we only put it on this one pork chop.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure which is more of a value $-wise, but *I* find more value in the frozen peas. Both my daughter and husband prefer them, as do I. As I try to find my way frugally, I find myself more clearly defining what I find a value - it's been quite a fun ride :)

JB

Anonymous said...

That looks very yummy. What time is dinner served???? (just kidding) All this 1950's stuff inspired me to look in my old college cook books and find a recipe to try. We are having stuffed peppers tonight. It is one of my husband's favorites. My grandsons do not care for it so they will get just the meat loaf mixture. I am making extra meat loaf mixture too for sandwiches this weekend...thanks for sharing your 50's adventure in cooking.

How about doing a Depression Cooking menu? I have a wonderful cook book called Dining Durning the Depression...I also have all of my mother's cook books and my grandmother's cook books. I love to read the recipes from those books.
Roxie

Julie said...

As for the value of frozen vs canned peas. Frozen peas win in this household. I do not like the taste of canned peas. I can eat nearly any other canned veggie, but not canned peas.

Indie Pereira said...

Frozen peas give more value because your family will actually eat them instead of dumping them in the trash when your back is turned.

jonceramic said...

The only canned vegetable I ever buy is corn. My family has found that the Save-A-Lot canned corn has the best flavor so that's what I buy. As for peas- I can't stand them canned. My rule of thumb for cheap veggies like peas and broccoli is no more than one dollar per frozen pound. I pay a bit more for fancy stir fry mixes and asparagus. I'm enjoying your menu this week although it isn't very vegetarian friendly. The multiple desserts daily is silly to me to. But, I guess this was before the era of the couch potato.

Fatcat said...

It's funny but around here we prefer our peas canned (only if mom cooks them though, if dad cooks them, they're not as good.)and our corn has to be frozen, not canned. ;-)

Anonymous said...

The pork chop dinner looks good (makes up for the previous night's menu!) As for peas, I actually like the LeSeur brand of tiny canned peas, but not other brands. As someone else said, if your family actually eats whatever you serve, then it is cost effective. A "bargain" that ends up in the garbage, isn't.

What time DO you get up? I was impressed by a post before 6AM!

amanda. said...

Yum! Those porkchops look delicious!

Christi said...

They look delicious!

Kelli said...

Meredith,

Funny thing- I was stuck in huge rainstorm last night and hanging out at the store and found a great sale on pork chops (I rarely buy neat at this place- the prices? Ugh)... so, this was perfect timing!

One question, the recipe mentions Pecorina- which I assume is a cheese. We live in a really remote area, so I'm confident that we won't have it here. Can you suggest a substitute?

Thanks

TJ said...

I love all of Emeril's recipes, but most need tweaking to make them frugal. I always make our own pork chop breading, and then oven bake. We just save stale crackers and add oregano, sage, crushed red pepper, seasoning salt and crush it all together before coating the pork chops in it.

Anonymous said...

Your meal looks really yummy : )

I have never in my life made, eaten or seen a BREADED pork chop! This is news. And I was raised by a southern mom.

Pork chops are sooo easy just pan-fried. We have one grocery that leaves on a thick edge of fat (according to Alton Brown, the only way to cook a chop worth eating). I concur as most of the trimmed chops I've cooked are horridly dry.

Perhaps the marinade/breading is a solution to dryness ... ?

as for the fat, my diabetic hubs prefers to err on fat grams over carb grams.

deb meyers

Anonymous said...

One of our favorite meals is pork chops with dressing. I make a simple corn bread dressing (just chicken broth, sage, onion, celery, and a pan of corn bread) brown the chops just a tad on both sides, then put on top of the corn bread dressing..bake covered at 350for 30 minutes..remove cover and bake just 10 minutes more to 'crisp up' the corn bread dressing...I serve this on Sundays with gravy and a salad and fruit crisp....My husband loves it...Roxie

Anonymous said...

Meredith,

Like everyone else, I'm enjoying your series BUT you must be awfully tired of cooking. I vote for hubby to take you out for a nice ethnic dinner once your experiment is finished! And I'm wondering, are you still working against the frump? I'm picturing you cooking these meals in a freshly starched vintage apron, pumps, and a string of pearls. . . . .

Susan in San Antonio
(don't think I could go a whole week without Mexican food!)

Kelli said...

Well now.

I made these for dinner tonight, but left out the wine and added an extra 1/2 cup of milk (I had 8 chops to soak) and used a cup of Parmesan instead of the Pecorino.

They. were. awesome.

Thank again for the link, Meredith!

Jan/lost-strayed-or-stolen.blogspot.com said...

We prefer the Le Seur baby peas in the can to frozen. My husband says the frozen ones are just too green!

Amy said...

Those look really yummy! I think I might try the smothered peas recipe that was listed under the chops recipe. Delicious!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Meredith for the suggestions and recipe. We had the pork chops last night (with rave reviews) with peas and faux-tatoes (mashed cauliflower w/ cream cheese - yum yum!)

Crissi

Anonymous said...

girrrrrrrrrrrrl, this is a good recipe -

loving this one lots! PORK CHOPS!

wah hoooo

latrice