It’s hard to get kids to eat more mature meals – grown-up dinners that appeal to the adults – so I wasn’t sure how to serve my children some gorgeous pork loin steaks that were making my mouth water. I decided to go for a tried and true recipe I grew up with, pork chops with cream of mushroom soup. Of course, not content to just dump the contents of the tin onto some fried chops, I created this recipe, which went down a treat. Using my cast iron pans makes colouring the meat really easily, but if you don’t have one, just leave the meat alone for several minutes to sear the colour onto it in any deep frying pan. I was really surprised at how keen the kids were once the chops were in bite-sized pieces and swirled into the mash.
You can choose to make your mash anyway that suits, but this recipe offers a microwave shortcut that shaves time and clean up in half. Peeling the skins once the whole potatoes have been cooked is much easier, and you don’t have to worry about a pot adding to the steam in your kitchen in the summer.
I used a teaspoon of bacon fat I had saved in my fridge to fry off the steaks, but a bit of veg oil will do the trick if you don’t have lard on hand. I happened to have it after a bacon-heavy brunch, but I must admit it adds a lovely depth of flavor to the pork and onions. You can keep it basic, or add more of your own flare to this dish, so I hope you’ll find inspiration in this ramped-up old standard that takes less than 30 minutes.
You’ll need:
- 4–6 pork loin steaks or pork chops (depending on the thickness of the steak)
- 2–3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon garlic granules/powder
- 1 teaspoon bacon fat or veg oil
- 1 cup chopped white onion (I use frozen)
- 2 cups chopped green beans (again, frozen is so easy)
- 1 cup water
- 1 8oz (small) tin cream of mushroom soup
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon (optional)
- ¼ cup single cream or half & half (optional)
- 4 large baking potatoes
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ½–1 cup milk
- Salt and pepper to taste
The method:
At least one hour prior, but preferably the night before, place your steaks or chops into a plastic bag to marinate in the Worcestershire and garlic.
Bring a nice deep frying pan to a medium-high heat with either the lard or oil to fry off the steaks. Try not to move them so you get a lovely, deep colour on both sides.
Add the frozen onions after both sides have some colour, and allow them to create a bit of liquid for clearing the fried bits off of the bottom of the pan.
Add the green beans and mix into the onions. You can add up to one cup of water to help if needed.
Stir the liquid created with the dried oregano before adding the tin of soup.
Stack the steaks to one side whilst you incorporate the soup and the onion and green bean sauce.
Add another splash of water if you want a thinner sauce, but it will reduce as you decrease the heat to medium-low.
Allow the sauce to come to a slight bubble over the steaks, for about ten minutes to keep the steaks tender.
While the pork is finishing and the sauce is reducing, scrub a few good-sized potatoes and poke them each in several places before placing on a microwave safe plate.
Microwave on high (or use the “baked potato” setting) for 8–12 minutes, or until they’re all soft to the touch.
Once the potatoes are all cooked through, roll them in your hands with an oven glove to loosen the potato inside. Allow the potato to cool slightly before peeling away the skins by hand.
Add the butter and milk, salt and pepper, and mash together with a fork. Reheat if necessary before serving.
As the sauce for the pork reduces, add salt and pepper to taste. Optional additions are a bit of cream and dried tarragon right at the end, which I find add a richness and aromatic quality. I mix them in right before I turn off the heat.
Serve the steaks with the mash, and drench them both in the gorgeous sauce and beans. I promise you won’t be disappointed.