Better Chops And Rice

Last week I had a craving.  A craving for comfort in the form of a pan of rice and a pork chop.  My original plan had been to cook them separately, and give the pork chops a nice breading.  As dinner crept closer though, I could not get the idea of a warm, comforting, all-in-one dish that I could just pop in the oven for a while and let it work its magic.  The problem would be that what I was really craving was that magic in a pan that only a can of Cream of Mushroom soup would take care of.  I didn’t have a can of soup, nor did I want one, as I’ve been mindful of trying to reduce the preservatives we eat.  So… could I make my own version of Oven Baked Pork Chops and Rice?  I thought I could.

I began with a saucepan and a tea kettle.  I turned the kettle on to boil so that I could make up some beef stock, and I was using concentrate, so I needed boiling water to do so.  To the saucepan, I added a drizzle of oil, and 1 cup of diced onion.  I let that soften a bit over medium heat, and then added 1 cup of chopped mushrooms.  Once those had cooked down, I added 1 minced clove of garlic, and let that work for about 1 minute, to get fantastically fragrant, and then I poured in my three cups of beef broth.  I added a healthy bit of fresh black pepper, but no salt, as my beef concentrate had plenty of salt for my taste.  Finally, after I turned off the heat, I whisked in 2 tablespoons of sour cream.

In a 9 x 13 baking dish, I poured 1 1/2 cups of plain white rice (after I had sprayed the pan with cooking spray.)  Next, I took my hot stock with mushrooms and onions and poured that all over the rice. I didn’t stir it together, simply poured it into the pan.   I took four pork chops, sprinkled them with seasoned salt and black pepper, and laid them on top of the rice. Well, they actually kind of sank in a little bit, but they were still mostly on top.  Finally, I covered the dish with foil, popped it in the 350ºF oven and walked away for 35 minutes.  Then I uncovered the pan and let it go another ten minutes in the oven to give the pork a bit of a crust.  Once out of the oven, I removed the chops to a plate and fluffed up the rice a bit with a fork.  I think I had success.

The rice turned out beautifully.  It was slightly creamy and full of flavor, and tasted very much like the rice would have if I’d used a can of soup, only the flavors were brighter and fresher, and much less muddled in salt.  The pork chops cooked nicely and were perfectly seasoned.  My only problem was that some of the chops were a touch on the dry side.  However, I used two chops that had bones, and two chops that didn’t, and of course, it was the ones sans bones that dried out a touch.  So if you do decide to give this a whirl, and your pork doesn’t have bones, decrease the whole cooking time by ten minutes or so.  You may have to pull the pork off and keep warm and covered while the rice finishes baking, but the end result will be worth it.  So worth it.  This was warm, comforting, and full of the flavors I was looking for, without resorting to the can of preservatives I was trying to avoid.  It was  great dinner, and one I’ll be making again.

This also happens to be very inexpensive to make, utilizing all on-hand ingredients.  To get one cup of chopped mushrooms, you only need about six button mushrooms.  This was a pantry dinner for me, as I had the pork in the freezer needing to be used, and rice, onions and beef broth are pantry staples, for me.

Oven Baked Pork Chops and Rice

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onion, about 1/2 a medium onion

1 cup chopped mushrooms, about six mushrooms

1 clove garlic, minced

freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 cups beef broth or stock

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1 1/2 cups white rice

4 bone-in pork chops

Seasoned salt and black pepper

Directions:

In a non-stick saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and add the onions.  Cook for about three minutes, or until they start to get tender.  Add the mushrooms.  Cook for another five minutes.  Add the minced garlic, and cook for just one minute, turning down the heat if necessary to keep the garlic from browning.  Season with black pepper, and add the beef broth.  Check for seasoning, adding more pepper if necessary, and a pinch of salt if your beef broth is unsalted.  Turn off the heat, and whisk in the two tablespoons of sour cream.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350ºF and spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.  Pour 1 1/2 cups of white rice in the pan, spreading it out evenly.  Gently, pour the beef broth mixture over the rice.  There is no need to stir it together.

Season the pork chops with the seasoned salt and pepper.  Lay the chops onto the top of the rice mixture. They will sink into the broth a bit, that’s okay.  Cover the pan with foil, pop in the oven, and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes uncovered.

Serves 4.