Paper Pork

Boneless pork chops were on sale the other day and I came home with a package of ten.  This was sufficient to motivate me to find a fun and interesting recipe for this blog!

Actually, I found two very similar ones.  Both were in Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book, by Marie Kimball, on page 59.

ISBN: 0-8139-0706-3

One was for veal cutlets and the other was for lamb chops.  I figured they would work well with pork chops, so I tried them out.

Veal Cutlets in Papers

Take 2 pounds of veal cutlet, in 2 cutlets, and flatten well.  Butter a sheet of paper, sprinkle with bread crumbs, mushrooms, and herbs chopped very fine.  Salt and pepper.  Butter two other sheets of paper and put under the first.  Lay your cutlet on, twist your paper round in the form of the piece and tie it with a short piece of thread.  Do the same with both cutlets.  Put in a baking pan and bake one hour in a moderate oven.  When they are done, remove outer paper.  -- Annette

Another Way

Take 6 lamb chops, put each in sheet of paper that has been well buttered on the inside and dipped in water to prevent burning.  Season with salt, pepper, and bread crumbs.  Roll them in the papers to preserve the gravy, tying the ends of the paper neatly.  Bake in a moderate oven three-quarters of an hour.  Serve them in the papers.  -- Volney

I used parchment paper.  My pork chops were pretty thin, so I didn't flatten them at all.  I tried one version with the three layers of paper but my thoughts were that they weren't needed -- one would be enough.  The other four used just one piece of paper.

These recipes reminded me of a dinner I fixed with my Girl Scout Troop years ago, so I wrapped the other five chops in aluminum foil.

Each paper/foil sheet was buttered over a wide area, then sprinkled with dried bread crumbs and sprinkled with salt and pepper.  Then I played with the flavorings:  one had mushrooms and chives; the others had one of the following herbs: basil, lemon thyme, lovage, or lemon balm.  I love my herb garden!

Mushrooms and chives

The pork chops were last to go on.  

Next step:  enclosure!

The first packet, with three layers of paper, I gathered up like a pouch and tied it off.  The rest I folded two sides together and then brought the other two sides up and over so I had a flat purse.

String is knotted

String can be untied by pulling on the short end

All were nestled onto a baking sheet and put in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30 minutes.  That was a good amount of time and maybe could have been shortened to 20 minutes since the chops were so thin.  

The Verdict:  MOIST.  Tender.  Flavorful.  Juicy.  All the words that normally I don't use on pork chops because they tend to be dry and chewy.  Success!  I tried two packets:  one foil with lovage, which was good but the lovage flavor was unusual to my taste buds (it is a new herb to my garden).  The other was the original packet with chives and mushrooms and it was superb.

Camouflage chop!

The butter did its job to keep the chop from sticking to the paper or foil.  The breadcrumbs did their job of soaking up the juices and holding the flavors close to the meat.  

I think this would be a fun dish to serve to company.  I can imagine sending around a platter with these little packets that each guest would pick up and unwrap at their plate.  Be sure to have a bowl handy to hold the used wrappers.

The only thing I would change is that I would put some bread crumbs and herbs/spices on top of the pork chop, too.  The underside of the chops was the prettiest so I flipped each one as I scooped it out of its wrapper.  Upon rereading the second recipe, I think it is telling me to put the seasonings on top.

Sweet Potato Pudding No. 1

This is actually what we call a pie because it has a crust but it looked simple and interesting, so I gave it a go.

The recipe is from Thomas Jefferson's Cook Book, by Marie Kimball.  It was originally published by the University Press of Virginia in 1976 and this is the fourth (1987) printing.

ISBN 0-8139-0706-3

Sweet Potato Pudding No. 1

Boil 1 pound of sweet potatoes until tender.  Rub them through a sieve.  Add 5 well-beaten eggs, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of butter, the grated rind of 1 lemon, a dash of nutmeg, and a wineglass of brandy.  Line a baking dish with pastry and pour in the mixture.  Sprinkle with sugar and bits of citron and bake in a slow oven until set.  -- Mrs. Mary Randolf.

I believe this Mrs. Mary Randolf is the sister of Thomas Jefferson's son-in-law and she is also a descendent of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.  She is famous for her housekeeping and cook book, The Virginia Housewife.  This puts her solidly into the Colonial American time period.  Sweet potatoes are a New World food and someone from Virginia was likely to know how to cook with it.

I updated the methods by first microwaving the sweet potato until it was tender.  Once it was cool, it was easy to peel.

Then I put the sweet potato into my food processor and blended it until it was mushy.  After that I added the rest of the ingredients (not the pie crust!) and blended until it was smooth.  *Forgive me, History, but I couldn't bring myself to use an entire cup of butter -- I used 1/2 cup, slightly melted.

My "wineglass of brandy" was about 4 ounces.

Once the mixture was poured in the crust, I sprinkled sugar over the top but skipped the citron because I still don't own any.

Pre-oven

This pie was in a ceramic pan so I set the temperature to 325 degrees F and baked it until it was puffy all through -- about 60 minutes.  The very middle still looked moist but it was puffed and didn't jiggle, so I figured it was "set".

Post-oven, still hot

The smell was heavenly!

Waiting for it to cool enough to eat was challenging.

Cooled.  The cracking looks distinguished, no?

The Verdict:  Oh. my.  This is incredibly tasty with the sweet potato, lemon, nutmeg, and brandy flavors.  It is fluffy like a chiffon pie without having to deal with the whites separately.  The texture is light and smooth.  Each forkful melts in your mouth.  The sprinkling of sugar on the top before baking makes a sweet, slightly crunchy thin crust.

This "pudding" is marvelous just as it is.

If I were to change anything, I would add less sugar -- perhaps just a cup -- and I made the right decision on the butter.

By the way, don't skip the brandy in this recipe.  It brings the flavors to an incredible height and is a natural pairing with the nutmeg.

And yes!  The center was cooked all the way through.