Full-on American Food

When I was a kid, I heard someone explain how a hot dog was the perfect illustration of a quintessentially American food. You've got a sausage from Vienna, bread from the Midwest and condiments from across the globe. I liked the idea of food illustrating our melting pot, but really can't we offer up something better than a hot dog? If you say McDonalds I am now plugging my ears and running away screaming. I find it sad that most of the rest of the world thinks golden arches and Coca-Cola when they think of "American Food."

What is Real American Food? It's basically "peasant food." Real American Food is simple, fresh and easy to prepare. The thing that makes Real American Food unique is the surprising blend of flavors from around the globe.  I've worked in restaurants with some truly talented chefs. I've watched amazing chefs on television. They all say the same thing: get the freshest ingredients you can and cook it simply and you'll always have amazing food. I think it finally sank in when I started cooking with Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food.

Tonight's dinner is Real American Food: Pork Chops with russet and sweet potatoes and Swiss chard. The pork, sweet potatoes and chard are all from a local farm with Avalon Acres. The russets came from Costco. Easy, breezy, simple meal.

Pork Chops with Potatoes and Greens
Season pork as early in the day as you can, but at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. I made up a rub with sea salt, pepper, chipotle powder, garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of brown sugar. You can season it the night before or in the morning and pull out of the fridge while you prep/cook other things. It needs some time to come to room temperature to cook evenly.

Slice potatoes and season lightly with salt and pepper. Brown in about 1/2 TBSP olive oil in skillet (they will not be fully cooked). Add chopped or sliced onions and garlic if you like. Remove from pan and add a bit of vegetable oil or bacon grease (just about a scant teaspoon or so). Brown pork chops on both sides. Add a cup or so of chicken or vegetable stock and scrape up the browned bits. Add back in the potatoes, cover and lower heat. Allow to simmer for about a half hour until the pork is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Wash and roughly chop greens and add to pot; cook until tender (mine took about 5 more minutes).

I served this with homemade bread and some brown basmati rice since my children are hit-or-miss with eating potatoes. It's not fancy, but it sure is tasty.