I made this for dinner because I had some chops hanging around and wanted something hearty. This is a totally different flavor from my smothered pork chop recipe that I serve with collard greens. While that recipe is made with shoulder chops, this is the more traditional center loin chop. That's the kind of pork chop that resembles a T-bone when you're talking beef steak. This recipe would also work with a rib chop, which is the kind of pork chop that would resemble a bone-in rib eye steak if you're looking at beef.
The problem I have had in the last ten years or so with pork chops is that hogs have been bred to produce leaner cuts of meat. When the world went fat crazy, pork took a nose dive and hog farmers began to change the diet and genetics of pork to raise an animal with less marbled fat. How strange it is today that the higher the fat content and marbling of beef, the more sought after and expensive it is. Hence the higher price for Certified Angus Beef, USDA Prime Beef and the grand-daddy of all marbled beef, Kobe.
Not so with the lowly pig. Pork today has far lower fat to protein ratios than it did even ten years ago, and certainly since the seventies. That's why, try as I might, I can't quite seem to get the same taste out of a fried pork chop like my dad used to make when I was a kid. Fried pork chops with fresh biscuits and cream gravy was a once-a-month Sunday morning breakfast at our house. Good lord, I would kill to go back in time and have that breakfast menu one more time.
The pork industry is coming around, however. In the more upscale grocers in metro areas that have high disposable incomes, I'm starting to see pork offered with the disclaimer that it has been raised without genetic constructs, and fed a more normal hog diet, and is claimed to be a more tender, juicer and flavorful meat because it contains more marbled fat.
Be that as it may, the secret to a delicious pork chop is to cook it quickly over medium high heat to sear in the juices and to not overcook the meat, which is really easy to do. I have completely given up on oven-frying pork chops or cooking pork in the oven in any manner other than braising. It's just to damn easy to overcook the meat that way. We also all still have this fear of getting Trichinosis from eating under-cooked pork because that's what our parents taught us, and so we generally cook pork way too long. The truth is, Trichinosis from domestically raised pork is virtually unheard of in this country. Any case of Trichinosis reported in the last fifty or so years comes from eating wild game, home-farmed pigs or from eating pork raised in third world countries whose diets consist mostly of garbage. Eating pork found in reputable grocery stores from producers supervised by the USDA is nothing to worry about even if served on the medium rare side. I still want my pork cooked through, with no pink, but only cooked just to that point. Cook it any longer and you wind up with a paperweight.
Ingredients
For the chops
4-6 rib or loin chops that hopefully haven't been over-trimmed. The more fat, the better. They ought to be about an inch thick. Any thicker and you'll need to adjust the cooking time a little longer.
4-6 tbsp canola oil for cooking
4-6 tbsp butter for cooking
2-3 tbsp butter for coating the chops
2 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp onion powder
2 tbsp ground thyme
2 tbsp dried lemon peel
2 tbsp black pepper
2 tbsp Hungarian paprika
2 tbsp ground oregano
2 tbsp dried parsley flakes
Ingredients
For the mushroom gravy
1 lb fresh button mushrooms, sliced
6 green onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp granulated beef bullion
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup chicken stock (like, Swanson or Kitchen Basics)
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
3-4 tbsp olive oil for cooking
1 stick butter
salt & pepper to taste
The Recipes
First, make the herb mix and encrust the chops:
Combine all the dry ingredients in the list for the chops above. Whisk together so that everything is evenly distributed throughout the mixture. Melt 2-3 tbsp butter in the microwave. Put a 1/4 tsp or so of the melted butter on one side of the chop and press the chop into the herb mixture. Make sure the chop is evenly coated and repeat on the other side. Don't stack the chops on top of one another, and don't put on paper towels, but allow them to rest on paper plates or some other non-absorbent surface, like a dinner plate or sheet pan until you're ready to cook them. It's okay, and in fact preferable, to allow the chops to come closer to room temperature. By the way, you can experiment with any variety of other herbs and spices. This is merely what I grabbed out of my spice rack until I had enough volume to coat all the chops I had.
Start making the gravy next:
I know, it sounds counter-intuitive to make a gravy before the chops are even cooked, but trust me on this. The gravy takes longer to cook than the pork chops do.
Heat up your olive oil in a large sauce pan until it shimmers. Put in your green onion, red bell pepper and garlic. Saute over medium high heat until all the vegetables are collapsed and soft, about ten minutes. Add the stick of butter to the pan and allow it to melt. Add the mushrooms and saute for fifteen to twenty minutes until the mushrooms are cooked and any accumulated water has evaporated. Mix in the paprika and saute another minute or two.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, red wine, chicken stock, heavy cream and the granulated beef bullion. Bring to a boil and turn down the heat, allowing the liquid to reduce to 1/2 to 1/3 its original volume.
Next, start the chops:
Add the canola oil and butter in a large skillet and heat to the smoking point. Be sure you have enough room between the chops in the skillet you're using. Crowd the pan, and the chops won't sear, they'll just steam. Be sure you have enough oil in the pan, too. Too little, and the herbs will burn. The herbs will also absorb some of the oil and you need enough to sear both sides. Carefully put the chops in the hot oil over medium high heat for exactly four minutes on each side. If things start smoking, turn your heat down a little. You want to sear, not burn the meat. If the chops are thicker than about an inch, you'll need to go a little longer than four minutes. Once you've finished searing the chops, put a lid on the skillet, remove the pan from the heat and let the chops sit for about ten minutes.
Now, finish the gravy:
Add any accumulated juices from the skillet in which you seared the chops into the sauce pan where the gravy is coming together. Mix well and remove the sauce pan from the heat. Fold in the sour cream and blend well. The sauce should thicken nicely at this point. Check for seasoning. Add salt and pepper if necessary and finish it by mixing in the fresh chopped chives.
Serve a chop on a plate and liberally spoon on the gravy. Although I didn't try it, this recipe will work with canned mushrooms just as well, I think. Just drain them well and cut back a little on the liquid you add to the gravy. This dish would be awesome on rice, noodles or a side of mock mashed potatoes without the garlic., but I had just a simple green salad on the side. Eat hearty!
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