Px3 (puorco, puparuole e patane)

Puorco, Puparuole, e Patane
Pork chops, Peppers and Potatoes

Costolette di maiale con peperoni sott'aceto e patate fritte
Among both Southern Italians and Italo-Americans this is a much loved dish. WIthout doubt, there are a number of variations on the basic theme -- I believe my version is properly simple and to the point.

1 Puparuole sott'acito
You need to prepare the peppers well in advance of using them with the pork chops, as the peppers need time to marinate in the oil and vinagre and garlic for at least several hours.
To roast the peppers, a grill is great but if that's not available, I find the burner on a stove top does a good job.

In addition to the multi-coloured bell peppers, I used on this occasion a couple of small hot peppers as well.

Peel the peppers, clean them and slice them. Then dress them with very good olive oil, wine vinagre (no balsamic, please), minced garlic, chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Cover them and let them sit for a good while, until the flavours come together.

2 Patane fritte
For Italian dishes of this sort, I have a couple of ways of making fried potatoes, one which resembles German Bratkartoffeln a great deal and then this other style. On this occasion, the potatoes were good old Idaho spuds, it seems.

Peel and cube the potatoes and...

... set them to frying at medium heat in a non-stick pan in which you've melted some lard. When the potato pieces are all nicely greased and have just started to change colour, add a little water, turn down the heat and cover the pan.

Once in a while, shake the pan and check on how the potatoes are cooking; if necessary, add a little more water. Ultimately, you want the potatoes to cook through and then for the water to evaporate and the potatoes to brown well in the lard.

Of course, one needs to season the potatoes with salt and pepper and, depending on my mood and what I have on hand, I sometimes add a small amount of a fresh herb; on this occasion, I used a little marjoram.

Since the pork chops and peppers cook quickly, the potatoes should be started a bit in advance to allow for the slow cooking.

3 Custatelle 'e puorco fritte cu 'e puparuole sott'acito
For this dish, restaurants in this country typically use very thick chops. Those preparations can be very tasty, to be sure, but I prefer the more traditional approach and use thinly cut chops.

I like to use a stainless steel pan for the frying of the chops, to which I add a little lard, if I have it on hand; otherwise, I use olive oil. Season the pork chops and cook them at fairly high heat.

Once the pork chops are browned and properly cooked, set them on a serving plate and, in the same pan, quickly fry the vinagre-peppers.

Serve the chops together with the peppers.

If you start cooking the chops round about when or just after the potatoes have started the final browning process, everything should be ready at about the same time.

A very simple and inexpensive meal that is also very delicious.


Bon prô,
Antonius

Links to other recipes and cooking notes by this writer: viewtopic.php?p=55649#55649

Antonius...these are incredibly delicious looking. I just bought pork chops today and I'm going out to get some peppers tomorrow. Monday night dinner...

Thanks for the inspiration!

Shannon

Shannon -- Many thanks!... I hope you enjoy the dish when you make it!... And be sure to let the peppers have some time to sit in the oil and vinegar!... If you'll be pressed for time tomorrow, roast and dress them today...

A