Cute Little Piggy Cheeks!! Or Temple.. Midwestern Pork Cutlets.

juttjaw

Don't fence me in
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Posts
4,753
Being born and raised in Iowa, "Pork Cutlets" are candy. Little medallions of tender, flavor packed head meat. Salted and peppered, lightly floured, and shallow fried in every Iowans favorite cooking utensil.... Motherfuckin cast iron skillet.

Until recently, I didn't give much thought about them. They were just something everyone has once or twice or four or twelve times a month (depending on if they are on sale). Every Mom had their way of cooking them... Or try to cook them...

As with most "Midwestern" farm food cooking its about being "hearty" and "filling" and "sticking to your ribs". Usually served with a big ol' glob of sticky mashed potatoes... Slathered in gravy made from the drippings.. and of course... whole kernel corn in about 3 sticks of butter..

According to "Moms guide to Pork Cutlets" there are two ways to prepare these.. and ONLY two ways..

1. Get out the trusty 6 quart "crawk pawt" (We're from the northern part of the Midwest) and fill it with two giant cans of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup.. Then dump in 2 pounds of cutlets .. Set on low and continue about your day. Cook until the soup has a nasty yellow tinged scum on top and the cutlets are so mushy that you cant tell if they are even in there...

2. Salt, pepper, flour, fry, repeat.

That's it.. That's all I know.. Sad.. This is the reason I am posting. I am searching for something different... In this whole world wide web there has to be someone with better applications! There. Has. To. Be!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Y5G3IFcPt4SgHtiSY-7J0RFGbam1ZstaLhZoYFFcaStezYkLK4SyugqG3QZBEf9Y2VcpDzMjh0jSaQhag6wauVLAMuD9LlOoOLjBUFwa39imM7VC1Db6vWcx2t-luH-vAtl49qyRXIBthp4AUKfEeB8bz-ODnxSvjWwQAJdqdwibDIMV9uLu8_QG7lN18WyisyB5uHPJKHymHw416r75QZM5x_6Vn5Iy07KIvkZZSsgrEqwYLdPg_KYMiMn2jGjB2MbkpAfjBkhPK7l_etUkfNzOs6DssT7Rfh_oAptPxGjRDmaNZpZx1p_B_I8rWuPLBV8JzEXD2MYSSu0tx1-7Fw9ydxtG0Hoi1XTypHEw9n2Td45ui7vjnpH9Hs1-xxKVuRk_I7a0O5FiEJA4YsQZEc968EM1ymADYjg2NnfmtT78skbqgnEQKEanWcJ-67h_uOAoqcZ1ECDwyR9L7P_tT8hDtdq2RyJJmmcMxs8nL2-6pr9OIBp6UzzqkxFDu-HZJTnZvC6B8cMUhIiSciSJA84tLKgTfHkWL7BCmSVQsv0=w1339-h753-no

As you can see, these are dirt cheap.. Guess people get freaky about head meats..

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dbonqUfkX_N-PJ12W_s79EpHNTqr59pqgENwmLAdxqryM_ui5yagn-ZAi6Fe9AUZiQ5xZBpQGgrjKM3iJldGs3Q_wq2a-vJIWeL2Jfyr_Ee8hc3WFd8kvTc9zSw6mL01P9rU-_ovYqfrp64CwFsiNzXQZgEenn0Nh_ejlJrZFzBUl3DwOJQmfUVMeljlqSq_eMufTBgI2r8xiYjYnIx6HNcE-U8XqbKtNmAIFM8yRhLsETBS8-EFVpYq6-r0LVgSMaBCeH6mVJluIwrWfK1DsV4Y9szM3Cgrexi8Y_Y1NPgsDlw0bpd7k-rCU_AMGE87P9TfLGVvLho_KM4DgA_MUkBLtCtN6TTMu9DtdUhNfCkyImHEUCA_K1UA_vz_Giu4Oou5MHjGXUb22sY6lPxsgRSCgGf5Ce62TYbxkOaCoOHnuJhViEVFePYYTar6HsqXO3zwtzMjZIdYyKmh7YDulAAz0Crkkk_r7vLbwwz-un6Wd24ilck7HQSlMh81w2DfvXNtO787cTspPoBTXIlUD024kKtgJl1_L-s3vEnvL4c=w1339-h753-no



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/PCCCbQ4R0F1QZHm7IMmJwMI0KZ4I9g_DvsVXq8TZDeUtahoDfGsd4mNNi1L10kcPTzDXKJPn_rej6X4xiodP_H8HbhqjOTI8P6kh8VaW46FSBGKxYulZEqaDgwt-JAhbSEeSCqyCLmafq6yaLnSZociFfyN30OTFdr6vDPSQD0FeUsY-gwOpw64H-mnbZSdYx3lp-1bgVkVJ_cSLainmvLLvBQBVEoGRmfaZwaii0IQCIIF-7bozhTIpo0uw_k7N0aMcqV5_S1sLRFWneWed8-qO9mcB7zJtxgeQ5vbznPvomIC3tJHTo03Uo5ObXYwimcWo59HGIqBf15joYJLdffTjDroi5GHXM8ZoCd0wAUjTC2TAAJmn5bf1YlFPl2Z-NJpbByjNjcLLk0H7k0Po6fzRlCYfumZ7YqDjFrcUyOipNyfCzLx-PcjYNl1lstwxT4C6985FAaL4nRuqUgGBL7r4JliAisn-Mmaf_U8rbVMOfmLGv_ylN-42S8V9CT1cKhPiAiAosuNawol5DP4biyDEHf5e93Nj1J-ogTr8zig=w1339-h753-no

They come pre-tenderized.. If flash fried they are tenders as hell.. If cooked a long time they are tenders as hell... If just barely over cooked.. They ball up into inedible wads of rubber. Unless you like pork gum.. Which really doesn't sound horrible..

Please, if you have ANY other ways of going about this lets share... It's time to rediscover.
 
Shit.. I'm a stinky ol' screen stretcher. Sorry about that...
 
Your pictures aren't showing up for me.

I've never had "pork cutlets". The crock pot version sounds... scary.
 
Your pictures aren't showing up for me.

I've never had "pork cutlets". The crock pot version sounds... scary.

Shit sorry.. im sure I fucked it up somehow.

It is scary... very scary...........


but one of my childhood tastes.
 
If they respond well to high heat without getting tough that sounds perfect for stir fry. Maybe some red peppers, broccoli baby corn onion. Ads napa cabbage towards the end. I make a dish with thin sliced pork red pepper pineapple and onion. A scant tablespoon of sugar helps with the browning process and sweetens it. If you want to lean it towards a sweet and hot add some sriracha or two or three little red Thai chilies.

Peanut oil does best at high temperature. A little bit of sesame oil adds a nice note but is unnecessary. I sometimes put an intact but crushed clove of garlic in the oil while it's heating up and remove it before it starts to scorch.
 
hah! that was a good one:D

((Initially I thought it was an Alt, then I realised he's for real))



Lol, yup the one & only. (never understood the need for alt's here...Lit ain't Facebook!)

Think I was 5 or 6 when my Yugoslav grandad taught me to blowtorch the hair off pig heads. Haa haa that guy really REALLY loved his headcheese!



BTW I'm a big fan of tenderloins, the usual chop or center loin just comes out too dry, even when you brine it overnight in a 1:16 salt:water brine.
 
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