Haley's Pork Chops

I am not one to brag, but it has been far too long for my pork chops to have not made an appearance on my blog, being that I have never made pork chops without people preaching about how good they are.

To get your taste buds in motion...
This week a few of the ladies in my apartment were getting together for dinner, which is not a rare occasion, and being that it was at my place I decided to make a nice shrimp fettuccine alfredo and some greens. However, being that I am my mother's daughter the menu certainly could not stop at just that. And so I decided I would prepare some of my favourite pork chops because they are easy to make, and more importantly, they are always critiqued well. When making my alfredo sauce I experimented a bit, adding garlic and white wine, which I had never added to my original alfredo. This experiment was going to end up on my blog, however, once again, my pork chops out-shown what was supposed to be the highlight of the meal, and I thought it would be wise to just put the uninteresting alfredo on the back burner.

Now, I can tell you story after story about exactly how delicious these pork chops are, or I can let your try them for yourself. I hope your taste buds are at full speed, because I am letting my secret loose.

The Recipe

Ingredients:
boneless pork chops, thin fast fry
olive oil
garlic, diced
onions, sliced
red peppers, sliced
white wine
lemon, and fresh squeezed lemon juice
lemon pepper
parsley flakes

Note: Never be afraid to experiment by adding new flavours; this recipe began with only 3 ingredients aside from the pork chops (olive oil, onions, and lemon juice).

Marinate your pork chops in an olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon pepper marinade, for several hours. You can prepare them the night before, or the morning of. However, I sometimes marinate just several minutes before and they will still turn out tasty.

Line a large frying pan with olive oil, and saute a hearty amount of garlic, onions, and red peppers. You do not just want to add these ingredients for appearance or minimal flavours, rather, you want to be able to fill your pan.

Once your vegetables are soft, discard the marinade from your pork chops and place them in the pan. Allow the chops to cook on both sides, adding white wine and lemon juice to the pan to keep them from burning. Do let your pork chops brown, but keep adding liquids right before they are about to burn. It is almost like you are playing a game with them; you want to make sure your chops brown, yet you want to keep them fairly moist. Your juices should eventually be browning and have a rather thick consistency.

Add lemon pepper and parsley flakes to taste, and I sometimes add entire rings or wedges of lemon to the pan. Your final result should be browned chops, bathed in "sticky" juices and vegetables.

I was watching The Main tonight, on the Food Network, and Chef Anthony Sedlak referred to the mushrooms that he topped off a beautiful red snapper with, as having "a sticky texture that's kind of sexy". And that is exactly how I want to refer to the garlic, onions, and peppers that are smeared in with my chops.

Haley

*Read more about The Main, on a blog in conjunction with the Food Network, Food for Thought.