Wednesday, February 18, 2009

What Ever Happened to Trish Olson?

Trish Olson was the wife of a high school friend of First Husband's, a beautiful blonde "stewardess" who gave me the recipe for these pork chops more than 35 years ago when we were both young brides and flight attendants were still called stewardesses. The friendship didn't flourish and we later heard that the Olsons had divorced, but the pork chops live on, albeit in somewhat changed form.

The original recipe calls for an onion slice, a lemon slice and brown sugar to top the pork chops; over the years, I've tried several combinations of citrus, onion and catsup. The catsup remains the constant but the other things can change, depending on what I have in the house and I usually leave out the brown sugar these days. Then, just slide the foil-covered pan into a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes for thick cut chops, uncovering and basting for the last 15 minutes or so. It's pretty simple and the flavor is not sophisticated
, like so many recipes from that era, but it is tasty.

It's easy to make, a bonus for a young married woman with a job and a new husband to impress. It was the height of "Women's Lib" when we were told we should "Bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, and never let you forget you're a man!" and a little dab of Enjoli perfume would take care of the latter part of that promise. Turns out that pork chops beat perfume for pleasing a man, in my experience.

What ever happened to Trish Olson? And Enjoli?

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9 Comments:

Blogger Kailyn said...

I love stuff that creates its own basting sauce. And I really loved the Enjoli commercial when I was a kid. Hmmm. Just checked. Apparently Revlon is still making the stuff.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

I acquired a recipe like this from my mom. The ketchup was actually chili sauce (and who's gonna go buy a bottle of that?).
The killer part was that the pork chops were perched atop a pile of rice (and water) in a skillet. Cook with the lid on. The rice puffs up and gets decadently gluey with pork juices. Not pretty, but pretty yum.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Kailyn, no kidding! But, I'm an Arpege girl...

Cookiecrumb, another friend also talked about the chili sauce twist, but the rice is new to me. Do you brown the rice first in butter or just put it in with water?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Cookiecrumb, by the way, the orange slice in this picture came from you guys. Thanks again.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Blogger cookiecrumb said...

Well, get ready for more oranges! :D
I don't remember browning the rice first, but it would be lovely to do so. It absorbs plenty of grease from the chops.
It's been a while since I've cooked this dish, but I'm going to say that you brown the pork chops first in the skillet, then add the rice (and stir up the fat if you like) and water; then float the chops over the rice and pile on the toppings. It's embarrassing.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009  
Blogger Ms Brown Mouse said...

Ooo, I have a pork chop and I'm a football widow Friday night, guess what I'm having for dinner?

Thursday, February 19, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Morgan, have fun on Friday!

Thursday, February 19, 2009  
Blogger Ms Brown Mouse said...

A little too much fun was had I'm afraid. I'll give the pork chops another go though, it was lovely.

Friday, February 20, 2009  
Blogger Zoomie said...

Morgan, oh, ouch! But worth it from the sounds of the evening.

Friday, February 20, 2009  

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