Wonderful Southern-style Pork Chops and Potatoes

It's been years since I've had it, but I will never forget a meal I had with my neighbor, Mary.  We were living in Dallas, TX, at the time.  Mary lived across the street from us with her daughter and grand-daughter.  Mary was widowed when she was young, so she raised her five children on her own.  She was the sweetest Christian lady one would ever want to meet, and, oh!  She could cook!

One afternoon she invited me and my two year old daughter to come over for lunch.  She served us pan-fried potatoes and pork chops.  I remember coming into the house and smelling the most welcoming smell.  I asked Mary what she was fixing.  She replied, "fried taters and pork chops."  I went into the kitchen and saw a big cast iron skillet.  On one side of the pan were the most delicious looking chunks of fried potato I've ever seen, and, next to those wonderful looking potatoes were cooking some pretty terrific looking pork chops.  I tell you what, those were the best pork chops, (and potatoes!), I've ever eaten!  Mary has since passed on, and I was never able to learn the secret of that wonderful meal.

Recently, I've been doing some reading on some Southern cooking sites, and I've figured out what it was that made that meal taste so good.  I was going to say "made it so special," but our friendship was what made it special.  However, it was the seasonings, (and they are so simple!), that made it taste so good.  Really, it is very simple -- just salt, pepper and paprika.  Also, I believe that she was very frugal and was using "saved" cooking fat -- like the fat* that raises to the top when the juices are poured off a chicken or a roast.  That saved fat gives a wonderful flavor to food it is used in.

What I'm going to be sharing is more of a method than a recipe.  I did some fried potatoes the other day and added cooked, caramelized onion, chicken and fresh spinach to make them a main dish.  That was good.  It is so easy to adapt this method for many other purposes...

Here goes:

Wonderful Southern-style Pork Chops and Potatoes
Serves 2

First, wash and cut up

2 good-sized russet potatoes

Put them on a plate and season them well with

Sea salt, pepper and paprika

Place them in a large skillet, preferably a cast iron one, with about 1/2" reserved cooking fat* or cooking oil.  Cover them and cook them over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, season on both sides

2 meaty pork chops

with sea salt, pepper and paprika

Dredge in a combination of

corn flour (like corn meal, only finely ground)
cornstarch

When it is time to uncover the potatoes, stir the potatoes.  Add the pork to the pan.  Allow the pork and potatoes to cook about 10 minutes uncovered then flip the chops and stir the potatoes again.  Cook them uncovered another 5 minutes, or so, until they are cooked through, (about 170F internal with a meat thermometer.)  The potatoes and chops are done when they are both crispy brown on the outside and tender in the middle.  Enjoy!