This week’s dive into mom’s big bag o’ recipes is one for the slow cooker, which is why, in the pic to the left, you may not actually notice a pork chop, even tho’ it says ‘pork chops’ right in the title of this post. Trust me, it’s in there, and it’s pretty darned tasty (and zippy, too!), but the chops are so darned tender they kinda fell apart as I served them with the sauce over rice. Life is tough.
Srsly, this is one fine recipe, and for this post, I’m giving you two options:
One: the classic recipe as mom had it photocopied and credited to Karol Hines of Kitty Hawk, NC, which is slow cooker pork chops in a barbecue kinda sauce, or…
Two: the recipe as I made it, with my own blend of seasonings, my own barbecue sauce, tomato chutney, and sherry peppers sauce added along with a can of veggie juice instead. Sure, my way presupposes you’ve got all those home made sauces hanging around your pantry, but a little planning, followed by a little simple home canning, will set you right up, and trust me, home made is so much better than bottled. The option is, of course, that you’ve been added to my holiday goody bag list, which this year will include a jar of each, along with other good stuff.
INGREDIENTS
Classic:
Chops:
•4 pork chops
•1/2 tsp salt
•1/8 tsp pepper
•2 med. onions, chopped
•2 celery ribs, chopped
•1 large red pepper, sliced
Sauce:
•1 can (14-1/2 oz) tomatoes
•1/2 cup ketchup
•2 tbsp cider vinegar
•2 tbsp brown sugar
•2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•1 tbsp lemon juice
•1 beef bouillon cube (optional)
•2 tbsp cornstarch
•2 tbsp water
•Hot cooked rice
My Version:
Chops:
•4 bone-in pork chops
•1/4 tsp salt
•1/4 tsp celery salt
•1/4 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/4 tsp granulated garlic
•2 med. onions, chopped
•2 celery ribs, chopped
•1 large red pepper, sliced
•8 oz sliced ‘shrooms
Sauce:
•1/2 pint tomato chutney
•1 cup my barbecue sauce
•1 can (12 oz) lower sodium veggie juice
•1 tbsp sherry peppers sauce
•2 tbsp cornstarch
•2 tbsp water
•Hot cooked rice
Method for both options:
Season both sides of the chops with the salt(s), pepper(s), and granulated garlic, then arrange in the bottom of your slow cooker. Top the chops with the sliced and chopped veggies.
Combine your chosen sauce ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the chops and veggies.
Cover the cooker, set on low, and leave it to do its thing for five or six hours.
Note: I’ve said in the past that my slow cooker seems to cook a bit faster than the times called for in most recipes, and this one was no different. My chops and sauce looked well and truly ready after about four hours, so you’re gonna want to go by your own cooker’s past history.
Whisk the corn starch into the water until blended, then stir into the mixture in the slow cooker.
Replace the cover and allow to cook for another 30 minutes or so, until the sauce has thickened nicely.
That’s all there is to it!
We had ours over white rice, with roasted corn on the cob on the side, and I can certainly say that I would make this again.
Next time, tho’, I may use a pork roast, sliced thick, then remove the meat, debone and shred it before returning to the sauce along with the corn starch and water – kinda like a pulled pork sloppy joe, or mebbe a barbecue version of my Thai Pork Stew.
Tasty.
Also tasty, leftovers; where I cut the remaining corn from its cobs and tossed it into the mixture with the little bit of rice left to make for a kinda nice (and still zippy) soup for lunch the next day with corn chips (OK, Fritos) added for a bit of crunch…
tho’, now I think of it, mebbe I should’ve gone the sloppy joe route on toasted rolls for levtovers with a nice hunk of our favorite (also just a bit zippy) coleslaw.