Trying to replicate grandmother’s pork chops

[OceanSpray]

Not quite sure if this is the place to ask but thought I would give it a try.

My mother was trying to replicate the pork chops her own mother would cook last night. I never had them before but she says they didn’t turn out anything the way they should have.

The thing is she swears up and down she remembers her mother only using celery and not any kind of stock and would end up with creamy, tender, chops on the cast iron pan. She tried her best but they were pretty tough and she can’t for the life of her remember how exactly her mom did it.

Does anyone happen to recognize using only celery for tender pork chops? I’m positive other stuff was involved and mom swears there wasn’t anything. Dunno if it matters but their location/time would have been early 1950’s Milwaukee, Wisconsin which would be heavy German and Polish influence in the cooking.

 

[Rose White]

@OceanSpray did she add water as well? My guess is there was some water or stock added and cook slowly.

 

[OceanSpray]

@OceanSpray did she add water as well? My guess is there was some water or stock added and cook slowly.

Ya definitely had water. I didn’t watch her working on it, I came in after. But the impression I got was she was trying to boil down the celery (with water) and use that to cook the meat.

 

[Friday]

A cast iron skillet doesn’t need ANYTHING to make the tenderest, juiciest chops you’ve ever had. That’s what most professional kitchens use. The major trick is heat+time. High heat, barely any time. For a 2” chop? Maaaaaaybe 4 minutes, to bring it up to 150 snowy white & glossy. The finger thin chops? You’re looking at 90 seconds. If the grill is running slow? A brief spray of water & lid to speed things up further by steaming & searing at the same time. Then just set them on a sizzle playe, and voila!

Midwestern Deutsche? It’s about 50/50 on whether they used that method, or the hour long braise for overcooked / fall apart pork.

All one needs is pork & water, but most Midwestern types in the 1800s & 1900s used cream of celery soup, or cream of mushroom soup. Whether just water, water & celery, or soup? Sear the chops, bring the liquid level halfway up the meat, and simmer (braise) with the lid on for about an hour. They’ll be “done” (temp-wise) after only 10-20 minutes, but tough as shoe leather. They have to continue to simmer the whole hour to be fork tender.

Ditto, most German based people then used the braising liquid to cook egg noodles in, which is the closest local thing to “späetzle”, once the meat was done. And served the meat over noodles. Other Midwestern ethnic backgrounds usually eschewed noodles for mashed potatoes, and used the braising liquid to make gravy.

 

[OceanSpray]

Thank you so much!!

 

[Freddyt]

The two mistakes most people make are overcooking, and not letting the meat rest.

As an example - steak. If you want well done - cook it to medium/medium well (about 140 degrees) put it on a plate and tent with foil. The meat is warm enough to continue cooking for the 5 minutes it rests. Resting allows the meat to relax after being heated and recover some moisture.

My sister swears I cook the best juiciest Turkey she ever had but in reality? It gets wrapped in foil (and towels) and put in the cooler and has an hour or so to rest before its carved. Nothing special - just more resting time.

 

[Friday]

Nothing special - just more resting time.

True, that.

Seriously.

Whether you’re talking a couple minutes for a steak, or an hour for a roast/Turkey? RESTING is what keeps meat juicy. If it’s hot outta the oven & juicing all over? Steam is LYCING (shredding) the cells… and will not be any “hotter” than something allowed to rest & retain juices. As the steam/lycing takes the heat (and juice!) along with it.

Hot outta the oven?

Means it’s dry & tough. Full stop.

 

[OceanSpray]

The two mistakes most people make are overcooking, and not letting the meat rest.

As an example - steak. If you want well done - cook it to medium/medium well (about 140 degrees) put it on a plate and tent with foil. The meat is warm enough to continue cooking for the 5 minutes it rests. Resting allows the meat to relax after being heated and recover some moisture.

My sister swears I cook the best juiciest Turkey she ever had but in reality? It gets wrapped in foil (and towels) and put in the cooler and has an hour or so to rest before its carved. Nothing special - just more resting time.

I’d never really understood the need for resting meat before lol so thank you.