Smothered Pork Chops

Anyone have a good recipe for smothered pork chops like they serve at the soul food places? They're in a brown gravy, and falling off the bone.

Cooks Illustrated did one a few years ago that was fantastic; their website is members-only, and I seem to have let my subscription lapse (!), but I'll check my bound copies.

Eric

Elise and Eric, I'm still a subscriber. Here's the recipe from Cook's Illustrated (it's not copyrighted):

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS
Serves 4

Make sure to use low-sodium chicken broth in this recipe; regular chicken broth can result in an over seasoned sauce. Serve smothered chops with a starch to soak up the rich gravy. Simple egg noodles were the test kitchen favorite, but rice or mashed potatoes also taste great.

3 ounces bacon (about 3 slices), cut into
1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth
Vegetable oil
4 bone-in, rib-end pork chops,
1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
Ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, halved pole to pole and
sliced thin (about 3 1/2 cups) Salt
2 tablespoons water
2 medium garlic cloves, pressed through garlic
press or minced (about 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Fry bacon in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel-lined plate, leaving fat in saucepan (you should have 2 tablespoons bacon fat; if not, supplement with vegetable oil). Reduce heat to medium-low and gradually whisk flour into fat until smooth. Cook, whisking frequently, until mixture is light brown, about the color of peanut butter, about 5 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth in slow, steady stream; increase heat to medium-high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally; cover and set aside off heat.
2. Heat 1-tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over high heat until smoking, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, dry pork chops with paper towels and sprinkle with 1/2-teaspoon pepper. Brown chops in single layer until deep golden on first side, about 3 minutes. Flip chops and cook until browned on second side, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer chops to large plate and set aside.
3. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil, onions, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and water to now-empty skillet. Using wooden spoon, scrape browned bits on pan bottom and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are softened and browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Return chops to skillet in single layer, covering chops with onions. Pour in warm sauce and any juices collected from pork; add bay leaves. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until pork is tender and paring knife inserted into chops meets very little resistance, about 30 minutes.
4. Transfer chops to warmed serving platter and tent with foil. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer sauce rapidly, stirring frequently, until thickened to gravy-like consistency, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves, stir in parsley, and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper. Cover chops with sauce, sprinkle with reserved bacon, and serve immediately.

You guys never let me down! And in time for dinner tonight, even!

I only have one thing to say...WOW!!! I put an insane amount of black pepper and bacon in the gravy, and tomorrow we'll have that with biscuits! WOW!!!

Bushie,
Looks like you are a hero again...You get the Mayor's Trophy for "Livesaving" !!

Wish I could take credit, Mr. Mayor, but I was just trying to help VibrationGuy from having to "hand-type" his paper copy!

Thanks for your kind words, though. (I'll need to find a special place for the Mayor's Trophy! )

Elise....

Here is another smothered chop recipe, but with a more BBQ bent. This is how I cook most of my pork loins. I cut them into 1 lb. slabs. That is why the times for these are so much longer.

The above recipe does look very good and I will be trying that one!

Enjoy!

Stogie
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

You can use your favorite BBQ sauce for this, but this is a pretty good sauce.

The Embers Pork Chop

4 - 1 pound Pork chop(s)
MARINADE
1 cup Soy sauce, dark
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Brown sugar
1 tablespoon Molasses, dark
1 teaspoon Salt
SAUCE
1 cup Ketchup
1 cup Chili sauce
1/4 cup Brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon Dry mustard
1/8 cup Water

PREPARATION:
There is a wonderful restaurant named The Embers in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, where chef Clarence Tuma prepares his famous One Pound Pork Chop. He has won numerous awards for it and has featured it on numerous national television shows. It takes a full 24 hours to prepare, and is well worth the trouble (oddly enough, it really doesn't take that much effort). He freely gives the recipe away, and invites everyone to drop by and discuss how theirs turned out at home.
To get the pork chops, ask the butcher at your local supermarket to cut four one pound, center cut pork chops. The butcher will look confused and say "One pound EACH?" Look right back at him and reply "One pound each." Start by preparing the marinating sauce using the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, molasses and salt. Mix them together and bring to a boil, then let it cool.
In a large sealable plastic bag, pour the marinating sauce over the pork chops, put them in the refrigerator and let them stand overnight.
When you get ready to cook the next day, take the pork chops out of the marinating sauce, place in a baking pan and cover tightly with foil. Put in 375 degree oven and bake until tender (about 2 hours). Discard the marinating sauce.
While they are baking, prepare the red sauce. Mix the dry mustard, brown sugar and water together leaving no lumps.
Add the ketchup and chili sauce, then bring the mixture to a slight boil.
After the chops are tender, remove them from the oven and dip each in the red sauce.
Take the chops after dipping and place them back in the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until slightly glazed. Save the unused red sauce for the table.

For extra flavor, keep the chops at room temperature until you are ready to put them on a charcoal pit or grill. Have the grill as high as possible from the coals; not a large bed of coals is needed.
Place the finished chops on the grill and let them cook slowly... a little blackening does not hurt the chops. Grilling should not take more than 15 minutes.

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

I only have one thing to say...WOW!!! I put an insane amount of black pepper and bacon in the gravy, and tomorrow we'll have that with biscuits! WOW!!!

Glad to hear it worked out; I'm a pork fiend; I'd give up all other mammal and avian flesh if I was assured of a lifetime supply of Really Good Pork, and I love this recipe.

Eric

quote:

Originally posted by VibrationGuy
I'd give up all other mammal and avian flesh if I was assured of a lifetime supply of Really Good Pork

AMEN brother!! Let's hear it for Pig Products!!

Bushie:
That recipe sounds absolutely bodacious. I have to try it. Thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by VibrationGuy

quote:

Originally posted by EliseT

I only have one thing to say...WOW!!! I put an insane amount of black pepper and bacon in the gravy, and tomorrow we'll have that with biscuits! WOW!!!

Glad to hear it worked out; I'm a pork fiend; I'd give up all other mammal and avian flesh if I was assured of a lifetime supply of Really Good Pork, and I love this recipe.

Eric

I like to think of myself as a fiend to all creatures.

Looks great, STOGIE. I'll be trying that one next week.

Too bad I did't see this thread before, but I've just got to add my own recipe. It's outrageous, so try it if you've not OD'd yet on 'em....

PORK CHOPS SMOTHERED IN RED WINE GRAVY

Put some flour (1/2 cup or so) in a plastic bag with some salt and pepper (this is one of those some o' this, some o' that recipes, so read no further if you need more precision.) Coat some (4, say) nice thick pork chops thinly in mustard (use Dijon if you must, but yellow hot dog mustard works just fine) and dredge them in the flour mixture. Brown them in a deep (preferably cast-iron) skillet in a little butter and vegetable oil. Take out the pork chops and saute some thinly sliced onion(a good sized one)in the same skillet until nice and soft and brown at the edges. Put the pork chops back in on top of the onions, and pour in red wine to just barely come up to the tops of the chops. Sprinkle in a bit of dried thyme, or throw in a branch of the fresh stuff. Braise the chops over low heat for at least an hour, until they are falling off the bone; and don't taste-them until they've braised awhile -- they don't taste as good at first, but as they mellow - wow. You can use a bit more of the dredging flour to thicken the gravy if you want it so (mix it with a little cold water or some more wine first). Serve with mashed potatoes.

My favorite smothered style pork chop recipe is from emeril's "Louisiana Real and Rustic" cookbook. It's called Pork chops with sweet potato gravy. Every time I make it people just rave about it. Here is a link to the recipe.

http://www.emerils.com/recipedb/recipepull.php?id=720

Just thinking about it solves my question of what's for dinner tonight!

I happened to have all the ingredients for the Cooks Illustrated recipe, and was it GOOD! It fed all my Bayou cravings perfectly. Speaking of, my husband is half Japanese, half German, and he can never understand my fondness for rice and gravy, until this dish. He claimed he didn't need the chop, just the rice with that wonderful gravy. Thanks Elise for starting this topic

We made the Cooks Illustrated recipe last night after reading everyone's recommendations, and it was truly fantastic. It always amazes me how something so simple can taste so phenomenal. Thanks Eric and Bushie!!

I made the smothered pc's Bushie posted - holy pa-moly - they were execellent! After every bite Bob kept saying "MAN these are good!" ..."So tender"...."Wow!" - just what a lovin' wife wants ta'hear!! Thanks! Highly recommended. I did about 2 inch thick pork loin chops (bought the big mutha pork loin on sale and cut it up into a roast and several meals and froze them) and followed the recipe (pretty much) exactly. It was great. Didn't have fresh thyme, so I used some Italian seasoning - only difference. Bob just wants to know when to contact his cardiologist ( I say it's only bacon!!! - heck considering all the other really REALLY bad stuff we eat this is nothin'!)

Oh man, these were so goooooood...

Smothered Pork Chops

8 thinly cut (about 1/2 inch thick) pork chops (about 3 pounds total)
2 teaspoons Emeril's Original Essence
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups thinly sliced onions
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
4 bay leaves
Two 14 1/2-ounce cans low-sodium chicken broth, or 3 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cans water (measured in the chicken broth cans)
1 pound smoked sausage or andouille, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
Steamed white rice or rice pilaf, for serving


Directions

Season both sides of the chops with the Essence.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over high heat.
Add the pork chops, 3 or 4 at a time, and lightly brown, about 2 minutes per side.
Remove the pork chops and transfer to a platter. Set aside.
Reduce the heat to medium.
Add the flour and stir constantly until the roux is the color of peanut butter, about 4 minutes.
Add the onions, salt, and black pepper.
Cook, stirring, until the onions are slightly soft, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic, bay leaves, chicken broth, and water and bring to a boil.
Return the pork chops to the pot.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the smoked sausage and the potatoes.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
Remove the bay leaves.
Remove from the heat.
Serve with either steamed white rice or rice pilaf.
Makes 4 servings (2 chops each) or 8 servings