I had tough bland pork chops. Would appreciate anyone’s time tested nearly foolproof pork chop recipe!
i mostly make Spanish, Caribbean, and SE Asian style pork, all of which use the juicy dark meat, instead of the dry white meat of the loin (what’s used in chops)… so that’s a massive cheat, right there. Dark pork never gets dry, it just shreds into pulled pork.
When I am using loin? It’s WICKED high heat (BBQ +500F, Wood-fired oven +700F) or incrediably loooooooow heat (200F). Both until internal temp = 150. Both serve the same purpose… keep all the juices inside. The first by being so blazing hot the steam cannot escape the sealed surface (regular searing/browning won’t work with dry white meats, the surface is too porous), the second by never reaching 212 degrees, so the juices inside never steam out.
BUT??? My mom’s favorite pork chop recipe is a Midwest perennial delight, always works, and has 10,000 variations
BASE
In a skillet with a lid
- Brown pork chops (naked, or dredged in seasoned flour) in butter.
- Add a couple cans of Campbell’s condensed cream of mushroom soup & splash of milk, chicken stock, or water. Maaaaaybe 1/4 of a can, per can, at most.
- Bring to simmer (hence the splash of liquid. It will steam off as you cook)
- Place lid, and simmer from apx 60-90 minutes, until chops are fork tender & swimming in saucy awesomeness.
- Voila! Done.
A few basic variations to get gears turning!
- Any condensed cream based soup (cream of chicken, cream of celery, etc.) The condensed part is key. Otherwise the diffusion ratio is off, and the pork juices out, instead of absorbing in.
- Alfredo sauce, instead of condensed soup, no extra h2o added, or given time to cook off before adding browned/raw meat.
- White wine, or sherry, instead of water/stock/milk
- Sliced onions (raw, in on top of the pork & condensed soup)
- Sliced or whole button mushrooms
- Splash of Woostershureshiresheer-shauce & dollup of sour cream with mushroom soup (for a more stroganoff style dish)… optional add onions and mushrooms. Serve over egg noodles.
- Bacon, and it’s drippings, instead of butter.
- Bacon, onion, celery, (peppers), instead of butter… also goes great with Old Bay or creole seasoning
- Picatta-style (butter, lemon, garlic, capers, & heavy cream)
- Cream Gravy, instead of condensed soup. Sausage & biscuits optional.
- Topped with ham & melted Swiss cheese, just layer over for the last 5-10 minutes.
ETA
ONE EXTRA, SAME BASIC PRINCIPLE (you’re making your own condensed cream soup, plus pounding your thick pork thin so it soaks up moisture) LOTS MORE WORK
This dish is a classic in the Touraine AOC, where plum orchards flourish among Gamay, Cabernet Franc, Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc plantings.
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