Pork chops and fried noodles

Pork chops and fried noodles? Yeah, what else would you eat with pork chops? Oh, I know, mashed potatoes and gravy. Well, I hate scraping the peels off potatoes in order to make mashed potatoes, and I'm not real fond of mashed potatoes with the skins left on; so, while I really enjoy mashed potatoes if someone else does the work, I have come up with something else to go with pork chops -- fried noodles. My mom made fried noodles a lot, and usually with pork and sauerkraut. She had to do something. None of the siblings like sauerkraut. I loved it then, still love it, but my sibs didn't, so she came up with something that even dad would eat and wouldn't mind having instead of mashed potatoes (with his pork chops).

Pork chops are so easy the way I make them. First, I use boneless, thick-sliced pork shops. I put some EVOO in a non-stick pan, just a little bit, then I sprinkle a bit of garlic salt and some seasoned salt over the bottom of the pan and when the pan is hot (use the hand over the pan feel method) I put the chops in the pan. I cook that side of the chop on high heat for about 3 minutes, then I turn the chop over and turn off the heat and cover the pan. The residual heat in the pan will cook the chop. Magically, gravy (unthickened yet) appears. I thicken the gravy using cornstarch and water. Then I put the gravy into a cup or something. This leaves a residue in the bottom of the frying pan.

While all this is going on I'm boiling wide, curly noodles in water (make enough for your own family, or maybe a little extra, because they'll love them). When the noodles are ready and drained, I put them back into the pan where the chops and gravy were made. There is enough "juice" in the bottom of the pan to fry the noodles. You'll hear them sizzle. I turn them over every two minutes until they have a nice brown crunch to them. But I only do that three or four times. Mom used to get her noodles more brown than I do. They're crunchy like chips, but they taste like noodles. If you need more "grease" in your pan, put a pat of butter in the pan, this will fry the noodles faster, I think.

I hope you like this dish. I learned this from my mama.

ttfn