BS: pork chop help

Subject: BS: pork chop help
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:06 PM

I'm looking for a recipe for cooking pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick) for our St Patrick's party. 12 diners in all. (In an Irish cookbook, I found a recipe for mashed potatoes, and they said it goes great with a chop.) If you cook, you know that today's pork chops can be dry and tasteless unless handled right.

Also, I want to relax and enjoy the party. I don't want a recipe that takes exquisite timing or uses every skillet in the place.

Nobody seems to have directions for preparing a simple chop. What planet are these people living on? Here's the deal.

two guests claim to be gluten intolerant. there goes all breading and stuffing

two guests are recovering alcholics. there goes all wine and beer

one has diabetes. there goes all sugar, honey, molasses and preserves

I'm prepared to brine the chops in kosher salt and water. But then what do I do?

very few recipes are for the family-size chop. Oh no, they demand chops at least one inch thick. That's too much.

How do I make them tasty without being dried out?

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: gnu
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:12 PM

Bread crumbs (just crumbs... no eggs or milk wash... not necessary) and fry in oil in one pan. Fry the others in oil or marg in another. Enjoy your chops and let the reast of them cope.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: gnu
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:21 PM

Oh yeah... regarding the recovering... don't use the wine and beer for cooking... drink it.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Wolfhound person
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:21 PM

UK pork chops are all less than half an inch thick: with the restrictions you've given I'd marinade them in an olive oil based herb mixture, heavy on rosemary I think,for several hours, and then grill them gently, basting with more of the herb mixture. Serve with English apple sauce and several seasonal veggies, and mashed potato.

Cook the potato early and keep it hot in the oven so it comes out slightly crunchy, but more important can be left alone while you do other things.

For a slightly more exotic accompaniment, stir fry mixed veg - onions, peppers (capsicums), and anything else that comes to mind - but that'll need last minute attention.

Very trad. English.

Hope that helps?

Paws

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:26 PM

"grill them gently" sounds like a problem. Our grill is in the backyard, fueled (by husbandly fiat) by wood. Not practical for 12 diners.

gnu - thanks for the recipe, which I will try later. but breading is out. Also, how many skillets full of chops would it take to feed 12?

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: SINSULL
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:37 PM

Brown them in a small amount of olive oil.
Then dot with applesauce and cover in sauerkraut.
Lower eat and cover skillet.
Low heat 45 minutes.
Then serve with additional applesauce and mashed potatoes.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Maryrrf
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:55 PM

OK here's a recipe that will make them nice and tender and it's easy. I used to do this all the time - and it turned out great. Get some heavy duty aluminum foil and put a couple of sheets of it in a large baking pan - leave enough so that you can make a large "packet" that will cover the chops. Liberally cut up onions and place in the bottom of the pan, drizzle with a little oil. Season the chops to your liking - for pork I like thyme or tarragon and put them on top of the onions. Douse liberally with worcestershire sauce, or A1 sauce. Seal the packet up well and bake at 350 for around an hour and a half. This works great for individual chops too - seal each in its individual packet AND you can add some sliced potatoes along with the onions, a few string beans or other veggies, and you've got a meal. If you like sauerkraut you can put the sauerkraut in as well and let it all cook together. Plus, there's no pan to clean.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: michaelr
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 05:57 PM

Here's a different idea: get a whole loin and roast it in the oven. Much less chance of drying out, plenty for 12 (if you have enough side dishes). You can even have the added effect of carving at the table.

Season loin with salt and pepper, and brown all over in a skillet. Let cool a bit, rub with herbs or spices, then cook in oven at 375 to 160 internal. Make a quick sauce with the pan juices. Mmm...

If you want to get even fancier, butterfly the loin and stuff it with something good.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Penny S.
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 06:03 PM

A recipe for the apple sauce - not necessarily the same as everyone else's. You need about half an eating apple per person or a quarter of a cooker. A mix of the two is good. About half the amount of chopped onion. Melt butter - I use about an ounce for two people, and soften the onion in it. Chop the apple - peel first if you prefer - into pieces about half an inch cubed and add to the onion. Grind a sprinkling of black pepper in. and cook gently to soften. bash the apple about a bit. I prefer it not pureed, but others do, and leave out the onion. Taste it. If it seems a bit tart, add a little sugar. It should be sharp to offset the pork fattiness.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Maryrrf
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 06:07 PM

If you haven't already bought the chops, the roast is a good idea. You could do it in the oven or the crock pot - just season and place it in the crock pot with some onions - cook it all day and it'll be nice and tender. That might be the easiest.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Crowhugger
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 07:56 PM

Do tell us what you did and how it turned out...

Also hope you realized that worcestershire sauce contains gluten.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Maryrrf
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 07:59 PM

Will even a tiny amount of gluten affect those with gluten intolerance? I can't imagine that the amount contained in worcestershire sauce would do any harm, but I don't know much about gluten intolerance. It just seems like all of a sudden there's a lot of gluten free products around...

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Crowhugger
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 09:28 PM

Depends on the person. I have a friend who is *that* sensitive, but many are not.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Mrrzy
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 10:03 PM

Salt & pepper after patting dry, fry on hot to brown both sides, then turn down and lid till cooked through. Leave alone for 5-10 mn at a time, one skillet. Serve with unsweetened applesauce Iopen jar) and a green veg or roasted cauliflower, my latest fave veg for not having to hover over the stove (break head into large pieces, put in large ziplock back with some olive oil and rock salt, coat thouroughly with oil, pour out of back onto baking sheet with edges, bake at anywhere from 350-450 for anwhere from 20 mn to 45 mn - depending on whatever else you're cooking - excellent.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Leadfingers
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 10:20 PM

I like Marrrf's recipe , but with sliced Onion and Apple in the foil with a modicum of seasoning !

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Leadfingers
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 10:40 PM

Ooops !! Sorry Mary ! Swopped the 'y' for a spare 'r' !

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Mar 11 - 11:55 PM

All these recipes are going to come in handy, but not for tomorrow.

We chickened out! Bought some ground pork and are going to make near-bangers, which we will shape and bake in the oven.

However, everybody's recipes will be used. We still have all those chops. (They will stay nice in the deep freeze.)

We did a trial run tonight, and we are convinced the sausages are the way to go. Suddenly, we have two more guests. This means that not all can fit around the table. It would be too hard for people to cut up and eat pork chops while sitting in a chair with no table.

The Dear Husband is betting that two more will call tomorrow and whimper "Can we still come?" (Invitations and reminders have been going out for four weeks.)

I will use rice instead of bread crumbs to avoid gluten.

Thanks for all your recipes.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: LadyJean
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 12:10 AM

Try a half a cup of salsa in the pan. It keeps them from drying out.

A half a cup of milk will do the same thing, if you aren't into salsa.

This having been said, a Jewish neighbor once called my mother and asked, "Marianne, do you have a recipe for pork chops."
"Yes," said my mother, "I have a great recipe. First put a half a cup of milk in the pan..."
"You don't know much about keeping kosher," said the neighbor. "Mixing meat and milk isn't kosher, you know."
"No, I didn't know that," said my mother. "You did say PORK chops didn't you?"

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: ranger1
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 12:37 AM

Late to the party, but my mom taught me a really simple recipe for pork chops just before I headed off to college. Lightly brown both sides of the chops, cover with sliced onions, season to taste (I like thyme, marjoram and rosemary and a little bit of sage myself), then cover with a mixture of condensed cream of mushroom soup and about half a soup can of milk. Cover and simmer for about an hour. I usually serve the chops with rice pilaf and peas.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: mrdux
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 01:59 AM

my wife is gluten intolerant, so i've been looking for workarounds -- lately i've been using Bob's Red Mill gluten free corn flour, seasoned with a bit of salt pepper and paprika, for dredging pork chops and all manner of other things (chicken, catfish). brown the chops quickly in hot oil, cover and let them cook over low heat for 20 minutes or so.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 02:08 AM

I'm skipping to the bottom without any reference to the other answers.

Do you have a slow cooker? Crock pot?

Buy a jar (you know- old fashioned - glass jar, metal lid) of the salted beef slices that used to be easily available, but now you may have to look for them. You might be able to substitute some of the blister pack Buddig beef slices if you can't find the jar.

Wrap one or two slices of this thin salted dried beef around each chop (enough to wrap around the entire chop), and layer them in the bottom of the crock pot. Get a couple of cans of cream of mushroom (you could also use onion) soup, and pour it in over the top of the chops. It works like a rich gravy. Cook these all day on low in the crock pot and you'll be astonished at how tender the pork and how wonderful the flavor from the beef. It's like using prosciutto in other dishes - the salt and flavor is just what it needs.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: michaelr
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 02:27 AM

Simmer pork chops for an hour? You must be joking, or else you're English.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: ClaireBear
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 03:22 AM

Make a marinade with Trader Joe's orange muscat champagne vinegar, olive oil, lots of chopped garlic, a generous dab or more of Dijon mustard, sea salt, cracked pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary. (Or I imagine tarragon would be wonderful instead of rosemary, but haven't tried it.) Poke holes in the chops with a fork. Layer chops and marinade in a zip-lock bag and massage them around together, then leave for a couple of hours. Grill or even cook in a skillet, over medium heat, not too long...just until firm and no longer pink inside.

Claire

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 04:55 AM

oohh... that pork sausage would taste great with egg, chopped sweet onion, chopped dried apricots, chopped chestnuts and a tiny bit of Marmite mixed in. Coat with flaked almonds.

serve with julienned and steamed swede, turnip, carrots drizzled with butter and garlic mashed potatoes

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: Max Johnson
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 08:37 AM

I agree with michaelr. Roast a whole loin, or loins. That way you'd get the quantity of chops you need, it's easier to find better quality pork, you can use marinades, herbs or breadcrumbs for the bling and it cooks itself so you can entertain your guests. I suggest songs or juggling.

Subject: RE: BS: pork chop help
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 19 Mar 11 - 01:31 PM

The best pork chops I ever had were pork, sauerkraut tomato juice and caraway seeds..don't know exactly how they were made but they were delicious.

And for all your friends with food requirements..don't mix everything together in one casserole say..but if you had some plain meat and some plain vegetables, that should do most people..bread or something on the side. If they have special food requirements (and I do have to eat what I need to eat when I need to eat) they should eat first at home or bring an emergency ration and just nibble with the others. You can't be a short-order cook...mg