The Only Thing That Could Have Made This Better Was If It Were Steak...

February 05, 2012

The Only Thing That Could Have Made This Better Was If It Were Steak...

I received my latest issue of Cook's Country in the mail a few days before my parents were coming to stay with me for the week. Needless to say, I had a major overhaul in the menu due to the arrival of said magazine. Especially when I saw "Country Fried Pork with Gravy"....uh, yes please. My mom doesn't eat beef (a long story that starts and ends with my dad owning a few cattle and we made the mortal mistake of naming them), but seeing as this was a pork dish AND who doesn't love something "country fried", how could I lose?! Taylor (my 17 year old) is not a fan of pork, she was going to be my biggest hurdle with this recipe. Seeing as this was a pork dish, dressed up in a country fried steak's clothing....I figured it was a shoe-in. Let the deception begin!

I realized part way in, that I was in over my head, and had to put my mom (sorry mom) and Ryan to work with some of the prep work. There were quite a few steps involved and this dish required making the gravy first (lots of measuring and was a little time consuming). I would recommend pounding out the pork ahead of time and the gravy was good, but I could have just done a white gravy instead and saved myself the time and mess (maybe even the packet of "just add water" white gravy--I think the brand is called Pioneer).

So, all this to say....it took 6 hands and an hour and a half. I was nervous. I kept looking at Taylor to see if I could sense a reaction. We did the usual, "what does everyone think....?" around the table and when we got to Taylor, she simply said, "This could only be better if it was steak..."

I guess there's no fooling anyone in this house. All in all....this was an excellent recipe. It made a fantastic sandwich the next day and even my non-pork eater really enjoyed it. Believe me, that speaks volumes!