Pork Chops and Gravy; Knockle; Beans with Bacon

It's been awhile since I've posted a new meal. To be honest, I've been doing a lot more "fast cooking" since school started up again. Between soccer practice, tutoring and school orientations/open houses, we've had a crazy supper schedule. But the temps have dropped a bit and that's let me cook some cold-weather favorites, too! Here's one of my mom's "recipes":

Pork Chops with Gravy

1 1/2 lb. boneless pork chops
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Hungarian Half-Sharp paprika
1 T. olive oil
1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk

Season pork chops with salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika. Brown on both sides in olive oil. Pour can of soup and milk over the top, adding a bit more paprika to the liquid. Simmer for an hour or more, until pork chops are falling-apart tender.

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Knockle
(I have no idea how to spell this, but it's what my mom called it; I tried to google "knockle" and found instead a recipe for Galuska, which appears to be the same stuff)

3 c. flour
3 eggs
enough water to make a doughy consistency (1 cup or less)
BIG pot of boiling water
salt and pepper
butter/olive oil for frying

Mix the flour and eggs, and then add enough water to make a THICK but pourable consistency. The galuska recipe above explains how my mom used to cook these:

• Place about half the dough on a damp cutting board or plate; cut it into strips with a wet knife, then cut strips into shreds or small pieces.
• Tip the dough shreds into the boiling water in batches. The galuska are cooked when they rise to the surface. Skim them off with a slotted spoon,

Because it's such a labor-intensive job, it was a rare treat when Mom would make them. But I used a spaetzel maker to speed things up. This is a spaetzel maker:

And here it is, with the dough inside (so you can see the consistency):

Either way, drop the small dough pieces into the boiling water and skim them out when they rise to the surface. Meanwhile, heat a mixture of butter and olive oil in a pan. Fry up the boiled knockle, seasoning with salt and pepper. Serve with gravy on top. yummmmmy!

ADDITION:
OK, I just found this website, which is dead-on for the "recipe" I use. And it says they are also called "nokedli", which sounds pretty close to Knockle to me!

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Beans with Bacon
pretty self-explanatory, but it's one of the only ways my family will eat green beans

Green beans, cooked
1/2 onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, chopped

Cook the green beans separately. At the same time, fry the bacon and onions. Drain off most of the bacon grease, then toss the cooked green beans with the bacon/onion mixture. Saute the beans as well, until all the flavors are mixed.
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