Cooking Louisiana  -  Jack's Pork Chop Stew
Jack's Pork Chop Stew is pretty much a new creation of mine. I (and the crew) really like "the other white meat" and I was trying to come up with a "rice and gravy" (stew) dish using pork chops. Well I just lucked out and (using a little knowledge and daring) came up with this! You've probably seen recipes using cabbage and other stuff, well, this one doesn't.
To do this the way I did it takes a few hours (just a warning). I'm sure you can take several shortcuts.

Ingredients:

One pork chop per adult (lets say 9 pork chops for this recipe).
2 medium onions chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 cup scallions chopped
1 tsp. Creole seasoning [more if tastes require]
6 to 10 grinds of fresh back pepper (more=hotter)
Brown Gravy Mix (enough to get the thickness you desire) [adjustable]

De-bone and cut away gristle and fat from pork chops (save the bones). Season the cut- a-ways (good meat) with a little Creole seasoning and garlic powder and put in the fridge [no real time limit]. You may wind up cutting some small pieces of good meat too... keep this and cook with the onions

pork chop stewTake bones and brown them in a pan or pot with a little cooking oil, or bacon grease on a med-high fire [just put enough bones to cover 3/4 of the bottom of the pan at a time]. Deglaze and reserve liquids and solids (grimeens) after each batch. Hint....chop the other stuff while you're doing this....

In another pot put browned bones and enough water to cover. Put the bones to boil and let cook for 30 minutes or so. [What you're doing here is making a pork stock]. If you've just got a ton of time you can bake the bones on 450ºF until they are a chocolate brown... then boil them. With all that extra time, cook the stock until it reduces by 1/3 rd. [you don't have to do this, but you'll be doing what the famous French Chefs do... your choice...]

Lightly brown the trimmed chops (cut-a-ways) in a little oil on a med-high fire. Again, only fill the pan 3/4 full and turn often. You only want to lightly brown, you're not trying to fully cook them... they'll finish cooking in the gravy!

When the chops (cut-a-ways) are browned put the onions in the same pot with a small amount of oil or bacon fat. Hint... you can use some of the oil from the previous brownings.

Sauté the onions on a medium fire until they are a medium brown (add a little water as needed) and cook them until reduced by about 1/2. Once the onions are done add the cut-a-ways and enough liquid from the pork stock to just cover the bottom of the pork chops... stir. Add green onions and enough pork stock to fill by about 3/4 and bring to a slow boil for five (or so) minutes.

pork chop stewNow the brown gravy mix, (yes you can make a roux if you want and use that). Sprinkle a little brown gravy mix, stir and bring to a boil. Continue this add, stir, boil regimen until you get a "stew consistency". You want to only sprinkle a little then stir and boil [keep the fire right]... this will give you the thickness you want real quick.




Let simmer for about 10 minutes and turn the fire off... let sit for at least 15 minutes for the chops to absorb the seasonings and serve over rice. Goes well with snap beans and a little bread.

Enjoy...