Pork Chops w/Potatoes, Indiana Persimmon Bread, Ham Deviled Eggs

We all need comfort food and a reminder of mom or grandma’s kitchen from time to time. These old fashion recipes are as good today as they were then. Share your memories with your family while you sit around the table enjoying this dishes!

Pork Chops with Potatoes is a recipe from a lady in the church where I grew in Southern Indiana. We often had church fellowships, all day meetings with dinner on the grounds, etc where the “church ladies” provided the food and we children played and ate! Good memories, for sure. Deviled eggs were often a part of such meals and this recipe for Ham Deviled Eggs is a little different than most. In the Fall in Southern Indiana one of the most beloved food is persimmons. These persimmons are small little fruits about like the size of a cherry tomato. A ritual of the season is gathering persimmons, sometimes called persimmon picking although that is a misnomer. These little jewels are very bitter until they are ripe. We usually wait until they fall from the trees and then they are delicious. The Persimmon Bread recipe here, is a real Southern Indiana treat.

Pork Chops with Potatoes

• 2 cups potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 pork chops
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 4 tbsp flour
• 1 cup milk
• pepper

Arrange potatoes and onion in layers in a greased baking dish. season with salt and pepper. Trim fat off pork chops and roll chops in some flour, then brown in a pan on each side and remove from pan.

Set aside all, except 1 tablespoon of the fat from the pork chop pan. Brown the flour with the fat in the pan. Add the milk. Blend until smooth and cook to a thin white sauce. Pour sauce over the potatoes. Top with the chops. Cover dish and bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

Ham Deviled Eggs

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 3 tbsp finely chopped cooked ham
• 2 tbsp mayonnaise
• 2 tbsp softened cream cheese
• 1 tsp prepared mustard
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
• paprika, if desired

Cut egg in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and set whites aside.

In a small bowl, mash egg yolks with a fork. Add the ham, mayonnaise, cream cheese, mustard, lemon juice, and caraway seeds to the mashed yolks. Stir the mixture to blend well. Refill the egg whites with the mixture using a heaping tablespoon of the mixture per egg white half. Sprinkle with paprika, if desired.

Midwest-Style Persimmon Bread

• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup persimmon pulp
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 1 2/3 cups flour
• 1 tsp soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans or hickory nuts

Cream sugar and butter. Add the eggs, persimmon pulp, and cold water. Sift the dry ingredients together an add to the persimmon mixture. Add the raisins and nuts. Pour into a well-greased loaf baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool and drizzle with glaze.
GLAZE: 3 tbsp powdered sugar, 1 tbsp water, 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix together.

Enjoy!

You can find hundreds more of Linda’s old fashion recipes on her blog at http://grandmasvintagerecipes.blogspot.com

Photo. Rakratchada Torsap