Pot-roasted pork sandwich

My family prefers butterflied pork chops over regular pork chops. They are more tender. We normally buy them as chops, sliced for individual servings. Last Friday, my husband came home with a slab of two-kilogram butterflied pork chops. A slab–unsliced. I thought how much better if I cooked the whole thing as a roast instead of slicing it and cooking the slices as regular pork chops. For some reason, Arby’s came to mind. Arby’s is a roast beef sandwich take out service. Or was. I don’t think it’s still in business. Anyway, there used to be an Arby’s along Quezon Avenue.

Anyway, my concern was leftovers. A two-kilogram slab of meat is too much for a family of four. Then, things took care of themselves in a strange way. Our househelp left unceremoniously on Friday evening on the pretext of visiting an aunt. She has not come back. Even if she did, I’m not taking her back in. So last night, I was trying to figure out how to reduce the amount of cooking. You know, if I cook something once, serve it differently at each meal, that would save me from a lot of dirty pans. And the two-kilogram slab of pork was just the perfect solution.

Dinner last night was the open-faced roast pork sandwich in the photo above. Thin slices of the pot roast were laid on a bun, smothered with brown gravy and topped with onion rings. It was great. Today’s lunch was the same roast pork but pan-fried in butter this time, and served with a creamy gravy with lots of chopped parsley. There are leftovers–the tips–which will go into a stir-fried dish tomorrow for lunch. We’re having chicken tonight, a recipe from one of the cookbooks that my mom-in-law gave me for my birthday.

Ingredients :

hamburger buns
a 2-kilogram slab of butterflied pork chops (uncut)
3 tbsps. of butter
1 whole onion, peeled
1 whole garlic, pierced in several sections
1 bay leaf
10 peppercorns
salt

For the onion rings :

2 large white onions, peeled and cut into rings

For the brown gravy :

2 tbsps. of butter
4 tbsps. of flour
4 c. of meat stock

Cooking procedure :

Heat the butter in a large casserole. When the butter starts to turn brown at the sides, gently lower the pork, fat side touching the butter. Cook over high heat for about a minute. Lift the pork slightly to see if the fat has started to brown. Actually, you will know that the fat is starting to brown by the smell of the butter but it won’t hurt to look. Turn the pork over and brown the other side. Pour in five cups of water. Add the whole garlic and onion, bay leaf and peppercorns. Season with salt. Simmer, fat side down, for an hour to an hour and a half.

When the pork is almost done, check the liquid. If there is too much liquid, pour it off. You can use this later for the gravy. Turn up the heat to medium-high and continue cooking the pork until all the liquid has evaporated. Let the pork cook in the mixture of butter and fat for a few minutes, allowing it to roll in the hot oil.

Lift the pork and transfer to a serving platter. Add the onion rings to the remaining oil and cook just until they start to turn soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl.

Check how much oil is left in the casserole. If there is more than a tablespoonful (this can happen depending on how much fat there is in the pork), pour it off until only a tablespoonful remains. DO NOT scrape the bottom of the casserole. You want all that “goodness” in your gravy. Add the two tablespoonfuls of butter and heat until melted. Add the flour all at once, stirring continuously. Cook the flour for a minute or two until it starts to brown. Cooking the flour also ensures that the gravy will not have a floury taste. Pour in the meat stock little by little, stirring as you pour. Cook until thick. Adjust the seasoning, if you prefer. You may add more salt and some ground pepper or you may add steak sauce and some chili sauce.

To serve, slice the pork thinly. Halve the buns. Arrange a few slices of pork on a half-bun and pour some gravy over them. Add some onion rings and serve at once.

If there are leftovers and you want to serve them with a different look and taste, fry the (chilled) sliced pork in hot butter. To make the gravy, follow the same procedure above but use milk or half-and-half instead of meat broth. Add about a tablespoonful of chopped parsley during the last minute of cooking.