Rib Pork Chops Sautéed

• Rib pork chops for 4

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• ½ cup whole-wheat flour

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• 1½ teaspoons salt

• 2 tablespoons butter or lard

• Garnish of watercress

1. Order rib chops half an inch thick and sliced from the center cut. Ask the butcher to bone each chop and to bind each one with a strip of fat cut from the loin and secured with a string or small skewer.

2. Mix well the flour and seasonings and spread the mixture out on a platter or on a sheet of wax paper.

3. Press the chops in the flour and set them aside for about an hour before you cook them.

4. If you use lard for your frying fat, heat the lard in the skillet until it sizzles when a drop of water is flicked in and then add the chops. If you use butter, heat the skillet over medium heat, add the butter, and when the foaming begins to subside and the butter begins to brown at the edges of the pan, add the chops.

5. Cook covered throughout. The first side should cook to a rich brown in 12 minutes. Turn the chops, lower the flame to medium-low, and cook another 12 to 15 minutes.

6. Remove the chops to a heated platter. Tilt the pan so that you can dip off about half the fat. Return the pan to the burner over high heat and pour in 1/4 cup of water. Boil hard until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency, then pour it over the chops. Garnish the chops with watercress.