Mandrake Pork

Our meal tonight honors the first Saint Louis LGBT group that blazed the way for so many of the rights we enjoy today. Now we are “locked down” to fight the spread of a deadly virus. Back in the day, LGBTs were in effect “locked down” in the closet in fear of our lives and our loved ones.

Here we have a great way to fix a Saint Louis favorite, pork steaks. (or if you wish, pork chops). Oven frying them produces some great flavor and a nice crunch! Try this soon.

Ingredients:

2 pork steaks

1 ½ cup whole milk

3 Tbs lemon juice

1 cup of flour

½ cup corn starch

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp chicken seasoning salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp pepper

2 large eggs

1/3 cup of margarine ( or butter!! it works!)

Directions:

Let pork sit out to come to room temperature. Squeeze 3 TBS lemon juice into 1½ cup whole milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes. It becomes the freshest buttermilk you ever had. Pour this over the pork and let it marinade for 30 minutes.

Whisk together the flour, corn starch, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chicken seasoning salt, and smoked paprika. Line a baking pan with foil and spray it well.

Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Line up the beaten eggs, a plate spread with seasoned flour mixture, then the baking pan.

First, let the buttermilk drip off the pork and lay it in the flour mixture. Press it in, turn it over and do the same again.

Now dip this floured pork into the beaten egg the back into the flour for a second coat of flour.

Place on the baking sheet. Repeat with the other piece of pork. Place in fridge for another full half an hour.

MAKE SURE to let the pork steak sit in the fridge for half an hour. This guarantees a crispy skin that doesn’t fall off right away!

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Melt the margarine ( or butter!) and drizzle evenly over the top of the pork. Or spray with butter flavored spray.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pork reaches the appropriate internal temperature.

Since large cuts increase approximately 10° F. while resting, remove them from the heat at 150° F. followed by a 10 minute rest. Just lay a piece of foil over the top while you fix the other vegetables.

Remove and serve!

You will notice this recipe works as well with chicken as with pork steaks. Since this is to honor Our first LGBT organization, we chose the Saint Louis favorite, pork steaks.

They will be succulent with just hints of smoke, BBQ, garlic and onion.

So proud to introduce this to my Master Indy and to You!

For our music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-mjl63e0ms

socialslave

To satisfy and restore.

To nourish, support and maintain.

To gratify, spoil, comfort and please,

to nurture, assist, and sustain

…..I cook!

Please buy slave's cookbook:

The Little Black Book of Indiscreet Recipes by Dan White http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F315Y4I/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_vAT4sb0934RTMvia @amazon

I'd like to express gratitude to the hard work that Steven Brawley and his whole crew at the Saint Louis LGBT History Project for preserving our rich heritage.

The 1960's were a powerful time for people struggling to find their rights. While many LGBTs were involved in the anti-war protests and the Africian-American Rights marches, few seriously considered demonstrating for our own rights. We met in public restrooms or in a few special bars usually located in run down neighborhoods with blacked out windows. One of the mainstays was the drag show, most bars had them.

One night of the year, usually on Halloween, men would get up the nerve to “dress up” and go to the bars for a “Dress Party”.

In the late 1950s, a competition for "female impersonators" called Miss Fannie's Ball was organized by the Jolly Jesters social club, with proceeds going to St. Louis African American institutions. The event is a continuing annual Halloween night celebration that has been hosted at various venues, including Masonic Prince Hall Grand Lodge and Chase Park Plaza.

In June of 1969, events turned the rights movement on its collective ear. In a bar named “Stonewall” in NYC, the police were doing one of their increasing raids and the patrons said “NO, We've had enough!”

There was little mention of this in the media of the day and so word of the night took quite awhile to spread around the isolated gay communities across the country. Groups had been formed in secret. The effort was building and the summer of 1969 the fuse was lit.

It reached Saint Louis on Halloween night when police raided the Onyx Room, one of the most popular gay bars of the time. Nine young people were arrested. At the station they were charged for "masquerading" (i.e. appearing publicly in women's clothing).

The local secret group known as The Mandrake Society, the first gay rights group of St. Louis, mobilized the community. They spread news of the arrests by phone to gather supporters at police headquarters, assisted with bail, and hired legal representation. The charges were eventually dropped, marking a significant victory for St. Louis gay rights activists. The 1969 Halloween arrests are sometimes referred to as "St. Louis' Stonewall" because of its importance as a flash-point of community resistance and organization.

During this time, the first gay and lesbian organizations formed on the East and West Coasts. In February 1966 multiple organizations came together in Kansas City for their first national conference, forming the North American Conference of Homophile Organizations (NACHO).

In St. Louis, the Mandrake Society had been established in April 1969, two months before the Stonewall riots. The group became a powerful advocate on behalf of St. Louis’s LGBTQ community. The society began holding an annual Halloween ball and publishing a newsletter.

We owe so much to those who fought before us. The brave men and women who risked being harassed, arrested, or fired from their jobs for their sexuality. We understand why so many remained closeted for their own safety. For in truth, it was not until that summer of 1969 that we came together as a people, we became a tribe. We will not go back!