Photo by Roy Wilcox

Pork Chops in Tomato Gravy

From "In a Cajun Kitchen" by Terri Pischoff Wuerthner, St. Martin's Press 2006

This was one of the dishes Dad often requested on his birthday. He loved pork chops, and generally liked them fried and on the bone so he could enjoy the sweet meat next to the bone. However, he loved to spoon this thick tomato gravy over rice. This dish is rich enough that it could actually serve 12 people if each would be satisfied with one chop.

Serves 6

• 12 boneless pork chops (about 3 pounds)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 cups tomato juice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce

1.    Place the chops on a work surface. Combine the salt and pepper and lightly sprinkle both sides of chops with the seasonings.
2.    Heat the oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add 6 of the 12 chops and brown 2 minutes per side. Remove chops to a platter, and repeat with remaining 6 chops.
3.    Add flour to pot, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 3 minutes, incorporating crispy bits on bottom of pan into flour by stirring constantly.
4.    Add onion and celery and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, stir, and add chops and accumulated liquid to pot.
5.    Spoon sauce over chops, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, covered, redistributing sauce and chops every half hour. Serve with rice or other starch of choice to sop up the wonderful, creamy gravy.
Lagniappe: Dad said they used to fill empty tomato juice cans with water and kerosene and set the legs of the kitchen table in them. Ants wouldn't crawl across the kerosene-water, but would crawl across plain water-and right on up to the table.

Mrs. Bodin's Fudge Cake, Very Old Recipe 

From "In a Cajun Kitchen" by Terri Pischoff Wuerthner, St. Martin's Press 2006

Aunt Lorna always called this recipe, "Mrs. Bodin's Very, Very, Very Old Fudge Cake." It is different from any cake I've ever tasted, and it is absolutely wonderful: fudgy, with a dense cake-like texture, and sweet without being overpoweringly so. I hesitated when it was time to add the raisins, as I didn't think raisins belonged here, but they are indiscernible, yet an integral part of the sweetness and texture of this delightful cake.

Makes one round (9-inch) cake

• 1/2 tablespoon softened butter
• 1 1/4 sticks butter (10 tablespoons), softened, additional
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened chocolate powder
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 1/4 cups drained, pitted, home-canned cherries (see *Lagniappe)
• 1/2 cup seedless raisins
• 3 tablespoons vanilla

1.    Preheat oven to 300°F. Grease a 9- or 10-inch cake pan with the softened butter. (An 8-inch cake pan is too small; the cake rises right to the top of a 9-inch pan.)
2.    Cream additional butter and sugar together with a fork, in a large bowl, until light and fluffy.
3.    Sift flour and chocolate powder together.
4.    Add the eggs to the butter-sugar mixture, one at a time, alternately with the flour-chocolate mixture, until batter is combined--don't over mix.
5.    Fold in remaining ingredients, just until mixed into the batter.
6.    Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours.
Lagniappe: While cakes today would be baked at a higher temperature, Mrs. Bodin probably used 300°F to be on the safe side, as the old ovens (and this recipe was from the time of wood burning ovens) were not nearly as accurate as what we've had in home kitchens for the past 80 or so years. The long cooking time is because of the low oven temperature.
*Lagniappe: Mrs. Bodin undoubtedly used cherries that she, or perhaps a neighbor, canned themselves. Since most of us probably don't put up our own cherries, the following may be used instead: 1 (15-ounce) can pitted cherries, drained (about 1 1/4 cups).

About "In a Cajun Kitchen"

This is Terri Pischoff Wuerthner's heartwarming memoir with recipes that will remind people of the true flavors of Cajun cooking. Her ancestor's settled in Louisiana around 1760 and the family grew into a memorable clan that understood the pleasures of the table and the bounty of the Louisiana forests, fields, and waters. Wuerthner spices her gumbo with memories of Cajun community dances, duck hunts and parties at the family farm. Along with the memories, In a Cajun Kitchen presents readers with a treasure trove of 180 authentic Cajun recipes:roasted pork mufaletta sandwiches, creamy crab casserole, breakfast cornbread with sausage and apples, gumbo, shrimp fritters, black-eyed pea and andouille bake, coconut pralines, pecan pie, and much more. 

Get In a Cajun Kitchen: Authentic Cajun Recipes and Stories from a Family Farm on the Bayou at:

• Amazon.com