Here's the scene: You haven't been to the store. You were too tired, too busy, or too something (anything) to do any meal planning. You're supposed to be saving money and not going out to eat. So what's your go-to meal? In this house, it's porkchops and rice. I love this recipe. It's cheap, I always have the ingredients on hand (hint: buy the porkchops whenever they're on sale and stick them in the freezer), and it's SO GOOD.
In the interest of full disclosure, this is actually my mother-in-law's recipe. Sort of. It was (is) always her go-to meal, and the first time I had it, I asked for the recipe. Unfortunately for me, it's one of those dishes that she just carries around in her head, and when she attempted to write it down...well...you can see for yourself. This is what it looked like:
Pork chops
1-2 cups rice
chopped onion
water
seasonings
canned diced tomatoes
canned crushed tomatoes
Brown chops, combine with the rest of ingredients, bake in oven 1-2 hours, around 325 or 350 degrees.
Ummmm...I don't know about you, but I'm TYPE A. Which means I need precision and order in my life. Let me tell you, the first time I made this dish with these vague instructions, it wasn't pretty. But I consider myself a pretty accomplished cook, and I wasn't going to let someone else's Go-To dish defeat me. It took me a full year, yes, a year, to finally replicate how hers tastes. And I took notes, every single time. Here's the result. Try it. You'll like it.
M.E.'s Pork Chops and Rice:
6-8 large bone-in porkchops
1 large sweet onion (suggest vidalia if you can get them), diced
1 cup long grain rice (don't go all healthy on us and try to substitute brown rice; won't work)
28 0z can Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes
28 0z can Muir Glen organic crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2/3 cup water
Sprinkle porkchops with salt and pepper. Brown both sides quickly over high heat, set in the bottom of large casserole dish. Sprinkle onion over porkchops. (Is your family weird about texture like mine sometimes is? If so, leave out the onion and it will still be yummy.) Measure rice into measuring cup, add salt, chili powder, and garlic powder. Stir to mix the spices together with the rice, and pour over porkchops. Pour both cans of tomatoes over porkchops and rice. Pour in water. Cook uncovered at 350 for 1 hour, 45 minutes. Dinner is ready when all the liquid is absorbed, rice is cooked, tomatoes have reduced down, and porkchops are fall-off-the-bone tender. Mmmmm. Happy eating!
