Smothered Pork Chops

This is about the best comfort food I can possibly make.  It hits so many right spots.  The pork chop can be eaten as is, but covered with a slightly sweet, savory gravy elevates it to the next level.  It is topped with soft, sweet and tart apples, carrots and crispy bacon.  This is all served over what is arguably the best part of the dish, the luscious and creamy mashed potatoes.

Serves 4

Ingredients List:

4 slices Bacon
4 Bone-in pork chops
1 medium onion - finely diced
1 Large Granny smith apple - peeled, cored, and sliced into 1/4" slices
3 carrots - peeled and cut into 1" spears
2 cloves of garlic - minced
1 cup of good quality apple cider
1 cup of chicken stock
2 TBL of flour
1 tsp of thyme - finely chopped
1 TBL of parsley - finely chopped
2 bay leaves
salt
pepper
vegetable oil

2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes (around 8-12 small or 4-6 medium) - "Unpeeled", scrubbed, and cut into 2 inch chunks

8 TBL (1 stick) of butter
1 cup half-half or whole milk

Pork Chops:
I have a slight beef with pork chops.  The first few times I made this dish I seasoned, seared, then finished cooking them straight out of the package and produced a solid chop.  Then, without warning, changing absolutely nothing, my next few chops became shoe leather (the joys of cooking...);  I cooked them perfectly, even slightly under at times, but they all were tough and chewy to the point of being border line inedible.

After that point, I decided to "ALWAYS" brine my chops.  Brining basically guarantees the chop will be tender so BRINE YOUR CHOPS!


Brine:
8 Cups Water
1/4 cup "table" salt (1/2 cup kosher salt)
1/4 cup granulated sugar

note:
it is actually very important to be precise when measuring out the brine.  if you undershoot the salt, the brine will pretty much do nothing to the chop except soak it with water while also retaining its toughness.  If you overshoot the salt, you can end up over seasoning the chop and making it too salty.

1.  Pour water, salt, and sugar into a very large bowl.  Mix well until everything is dissolved.  i use cold water and it takes a bit of work to fully break down all the salt and sugar.

2.  place chops into brine and fully submerge.  place into fridge.

3.  flip chops after 25 min.  after 50 min. take out of brine, rinse the chops well under water, then fully pat dry.

4.  DO NOT brine for more than one hour because the chops will end up too salty.


Mashed Potatoes:

2 lbs of yukon gold potatoes (around 8-12 small or 4-6 medium)
8 TBL (1 stick) of butter
1 cup half-half or whole milk

note: 
there's only one real key to making great mashed potatoes: BOIL THEM UNTIL THEY ARE FALLING APART.  By falling apart, I mean the potato should literally break in half "ON ITS OWN" when pierced with a fork.  If the potato kind of breaks apart or if you have to twist the fork to break it apart, BOIL IT LONGER.  The potato should shatter and break in half as soon as you slide in a fork.  Error on the side of slightly overcooked.  An extra 5-10 min of boiling will not ruin it, but boiling them 5-10 min under will.  By ruined, I mean that the mashed potatoes will have a gritty, lumpy texture as opposed to a smooth, silky one.

1.  Place potatoes into large enough pot then cover with cold water until 1 inch above potatoes.

2.  add 1 tsp of table salt then cover with lid and put over high heat.

3.  When it starts to boil aggressively, move lid so that it only half covers the top, then lower the heat and maintain a good boil without it boiling over.

4. after about 15 min start to check the doneness of the potatoes by piercing with a fork and looking for the criteria mentioned above.  if not done, boil another 5 min then check again.  you may end up boiling for another 5-15 min.

5.  when it is ready, carefully poor out all the water and allow the potatoes to rest and cool on a separate plate for at least 15 min.

6.  after potatoes have cooled, peal them and place them into the same pot you boiled them in. (If you have a ricer, you can rice potatoes directly into the pot with the skin on and just take out the skin afterwards).

7.  place butter and milk/half-half into a bowl and microwave for 1 min.

8.  scoop butter into the mashed potatoes first, then poor half of the milk into the potatoes.  Add a healthy pinch of salt and pepper and mash with potato masher or mix if you used a ricer.

9.  taste and adjust seasoning and/or the consistency with more milk.  keep warm on lowest heat.


Recipe:

searing:  1.  make sure the meat is as dry as possible.  adding in meat that is too wet will essentially steam the meat.  2.  make sure the pan is extremely hot before you add in the meat.  3.  do not overcrowd the pan.  overcrowding will both drop the temperature too low for proper searing and could also cause bad contact between the pan and the meat.

1.  place bacon into a COLD skillet and cook until bacon is crispy on both sides.  remove bacon and set aside.

2.  add enough vegetable oil so that there are 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and heat up on high.

3.  fully dry pork chops and PEPPER ONLY both sides.  As soon as pan starts smoking, place 2 chops into pan and sear each side until well browned for no more than 2 min per side.  You are not looking to fully cook the chops, just sear them.

note:
since we are not fully cooking the chops in this step, if you see any noticeably bloody and red edges, quickly place those edges onto the pan to sear them off.

4.  place chops onto another plate to rest then repeat step 3 for the other 2 chops.

5.  take off heat and let pan cool for 10 min.  slowly whisk in flower and cook on low heat until golden brown.

6.  add in chicken stock and apple cider vinegar and scrape off all the brown bits.  put on medium high heat and stir until it boils.  take off heat and set aside.

7.  in a separate large pan (or you can poor sauce into bowl, clean pan, and use again), heat oil on medium heat then add in onions, apples, and carrots.  add a pinch of salt and pepper and saute for a few minutes until vegetables have softened.

8. add in garlic and thyme and saute for 30 seconds then mix into vegetables.  

9.  pour in sauce and add bay leaves.  scrape down any brown bits, COVER, and put over medium heat and let simmer for 10 min.

10. check for doneness of carrots and apple slices by piercing with a pairing knife.  it should have little to no resistance.  if still too firm, cover and simmer for another 5 min or until tender.

11.  place pork chops and any accumulated juices on top of gravy and spoon some sauce over chops.  cover and put over medium-low heat.

12.  quickly spoon mashed potatoes onto 4 plates.

13.  after 2 minutes in the gravy check the internal temperature.  you are aiming for 150-155.  Yes, 145 is sufficient but I've had a few chops be underdone when i aimed for 145 so I usually aim for 150-155 now.  the chops will still be tender because of the brine.  if not up to temperature, cover and let cook for another 1-2 minutes and check temperature again.  the chops will only take a few minutes to finish cooking.

14.  when done, place chops on top of mashed potatoes.

15.  increase heat to medium-high and stir rapidly until sauce is reduced to a thick gravy.  Remove bay leaves, taste, and adjust for seasonings.  you can add a little chicken stock or apple cider to adjust sweetness.

16.  add chopped parsley, mix, then spoon over chops.

17.  garnish each chop with 1 crumpled up bacon slice.  Serve that mofo.