What's In A Pan?

2 days ago, I was asked by a friend for a recipe that I make each time I visit Lotts Creek School, in Hazard, Kentucky. After sending it to him, I decided to share it with you readers and it's posted in the preceding entry. It's important to know the history of the dish. After all, each of us has asked about the origin of so many things.
Since childhood, my Mom has always made what she called, "City Chicken." (I never DID learn whence the title). They kind of resemble a chcken leg...maybe.
In our old neighborhood butcher shop, you could get 4-5 inch wood skewers that were pointed at one end. The butcher would sell chunks of pork and veal that measured approximately 1-1/2" cubed and package them all together. Mom would alternately attach the pork and veal onto the skewers, bread them, lightly brown in a black, cast iron frying pan and then bake until tender. She'd normally serve them with mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy and corn. I nearly forgot to mention the homemade bread! If you could walk away from the table, you obviously didn't eat enough.
Nowadays, it's rare to find cubed veal, and sometimes, ANY veal. Some butchers continue to offer cubed pork with skewers, but you won't find that everywhere. That being the case, I've adapted to what's available.
When skewers aren't available, I utilize clean, plastic grocery bags, as explained in the actual recipe. When I'm REELEE pressed for time or just lazy, I buy whole, boneless country/western style pork ribs.
Please try the recipe...you just might like that other white meat.
After all that, we're back to, "How did City Chicken get that name?"
Well, Virginia, I must admit, that I shall go to bed tonight, still not having a clue.

Boneless Country/Western Style Pork Ribs

A friend asked for the recipe, so I thought I'd share...

Instructions are for 1 pack (8 Pieces) of country ribs
Don't trim the fat because you can make gravy from the juice or use it as I explain below
Use tongs for handling meat

Pre-heat the oven to 350

Break 3 eggs in a bowl---shells go to compost
Add 4 tablespoons of milk or cream to the eggs and stir with fork until well blended

You can use separate bowls, 1 for all-purpose flour and 1 for Italian bread crumbs
Use 1-1/2 cups of each
To save time, I like to re-use clean plastic grocery bags

From left to right, bag of flour---bowl of eggs---bag of bread crumbs

Rinse the ribs very well. No need to dry
Place into flour and shake until all are well covered
Remove 1 at a time, with tongs and dip into the egg mix until totally covered
Place into bread crumbs and shake until all are well covered

I like to use a large, black iron frying pan, preheated with good oil (I like virgin olive oil)
I use tongs to prevent loss of the bread crumb coating
Fry in oil until bread crumbs are light brown and flip so both sides are the same

Place ribs into a roaster or Pyrex bowl and make certain ribs don't contact each other
If they touch, the breading will come apart
Cover the roaster or bowl with foil or lid and place into 350 pre-heated oven
Bake at 350 for 1 hour
Lower oven temp to 160 and let it bake 'til the goats come home (minimum 4 hours)

When done, carefully remove with tongs or egg flipper, as meat will be soft
And there ya have it!
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Most times, there will be left-over fixin's, so I combine all and stir with a fork or whipper until well mixed. You might need to add a few drops of milk at a time until the mixture is creamy enough to pour, like pancake batter. Add a soft banana or 2 and mix. Fry like pancakes.
You can use the frying juice for these or do it separately.

YUM!!!