Smothered Pork Chops

I'm trying to get pork more into my diet. It's not my first choice, often, and a meat I forget about. I get tired of chicken so need to find alteratives.

This recipe is 1) easy and 2) quite good. I made mashed potatoes with this so probably put the "heathy" out the window.  By and large, though, it would be a fairly healthy mean (without the potatoes).

I have several America Test Kitchen Cooking for Two cookbooks. As a single person, cooking for one is almost impossible. But cooking for two is easy. The "leftovers" often go to the Pantry Goat so I never feel like I'm wasting.

Smothered Pork Chops

Photo courtesy of Dishing With Dish blog

Recipe from American Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2012
Makes 2 servings

1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
Salt and pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
2 (7oz) bone-in blade-cut pork chops (1/2 inch thick)
1 T vegetable oil
1 T unsalted butter
1 onion, halved and sliced thin (really you only need 1/2 of a BIG onion.
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/2 c plus 1 T beef broth (oh I should mention I didn't have beef broth so I used chicken.)
1 bay leaf
3/4 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cider vinegar

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine onion powder, paprika 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper and cayenne in a small bowl. Pat chops dry with paper towels and rub evenly with spice mixture.

Heat oil in 10" oven proof skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chops 3-4 minutes per side; transfer to a plate. Melt butter in now empty skillet over medium heat.  Add onion and cook until softened and well browned, 8-10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in 1/2 cup broth and bay leaf, scraping up any browned bits, and bring to a boil. Return chops and any accumulated juices, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until chops are completely tender and fork slips easily in and out of  meat, about 1 1/2 hours. [Jenn Note: This surprised me. It took my chops only 20 minutes to cook. So check your chops after 15 minutes.]

Transfer chops to plate and tent loosely with foil. Remove bay leaf and strain contents of skillet through fine mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup; reserve onions. Let liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove the fat from surface using large spoon (or you can strain it into a fat separator like I did).

Return 1/3 c defatted pan juices to now empty skillet and bring to a simmer.  Whisk remaining 1 T broth and cornstarch together in a bowl until no l umps remain, then whisk mixture into sauce and simmer until thickened, about 30 seconds. Stir in reserved onions and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper if needed.