Mapled Pork Chops
I'm here today with another recipe that I have downsized for the smaller family, Mapled Pork Chops. Oh boy, but these chops always make my pork chop loving husband drool when he knows I am making them!
They are so simple to make and oh-so-delicious! There is no frying involved. You simply pop the chops into a baking dish, top them with a special flavour mixture, cover and then bake! Easy peasy lemon squeasy!
The original full-sized version comes from a cookbook I have entitled, Recipes Worth Sharing, recipes from America's most loved Community Cookbooks.
Its original attribution is the Community Cookbook entitled, If You Can't Stand the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen, by the Junior Service League of Independence Missouri.
I have always loved Community Cookbooks. They are real gems filled with the favourite, tried and trues of communities of good cooks! You can't beat them, and this recipe is a prime example of that!
The original recipe served 6. I have downsized it so that it is perfect for just two pork chop loving hungry people.
You want to make sure you use really good and meaty pork chops for this. I buy mine at Costco and then break them down into groups of two and freeze them for whenever I want to serve red meat. I buy the bone in pork loin chops.
You get a tender, succulent section of rib type meat, next to the bone, along with a lean and juicy medallion of loin. You will also want a healthy layer of fat along the outer edge. These two things, the bone and the fat, will help to keep your pork juicy, tender and tasty
One thing which I always do with my chops, bone in or out, is to slash the fatty edge of the chop with a sharp knife at 1/2 inch intervals, just through the fat to the meat. This helps to keep them from curling up when they cook, whether you are frying them or simmering them, baking them, whatever. Trust me. It keeps them nice and flat.
The flavour ingredients are simple. Dried minced onion, vinegar (apple cider is nice), Worcestershire Sauce, mild chili powder, salt, pepper, and pure maple syrup. These get mixed with some water, poured over the chops in the baking dish and then you tightly cover it and bake. Oh baby. Some easy and some good!
Yield: 2
Mapled Pork Chops
Tender and delicious this recipe serves two but can easily be doubled to serve more. These chops are spicy, sweet and tangy as well as being incredibly simple to make.
ingredients:
- 2 thick meaty, bone in pork loin chops, the fatty edges slashed at 1/2 inch spaces (this helps to keep them from curling up when they are cooking)
- 1 1/2 tsp minced dry onion
- 1 1/2 tsp vinegar
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp mild chili powder
- pinch black pepper
- 2 TBS pure maple syrup
- 2 TBS water
instructions:
How to cook Mapled Pork Chops
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. You will need a shallow baking dish large enough to hold both chops side by side.
- Place the pork chops in a single layer in a lightly buttered shallow baking dish.
- Whisk together all of the ingredients until well combined. Spoon evenly over the chops. Cover the dish tightly with foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, basting occasionally.
- Uncover and baste again, then return to the oven, uncovered for a further 15 minutes, until cooked through and golden. Serve hot with some of the juices spooned over top. Delicious!
Just look at how tender that chop is. I served it with my Byron Baked Potatoes, baby frozen peas, Cauliflower Cheese and sweet potato that I baked in the oven while I was baking the chops. The whole meal was quite simply fabulous!
