Friday, April 3, 2009

Fear of Pork


I very rarely cook pork. I love bacon and eggs and manage to do okay making sure the bacon is crisp but really, pork in any form was not something I grew up with or really knew how to cook. One could say I had FOP. It took many hours of scanning food blogs to get me to even try it.

How hard could it be? Everyone says it's a breeze to cook. I tried it - it was - the jury is still out on whether or not it'll become a staple in my diet.



Ingredients

2 pork chops
salt and pepper to season
Mrs. Dash (a collective of spices in one bottle - sodium free)
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup sliced mixed mushroom
1/2 cup chicken broth
scant balsamic vinegar

Method

Bring olive oil to heat in an oven proof skillet. Add pork chops.
Add mushrooms. Cook pork chops approximately 5 minutes per side and then place in 350 F oven to heat through - about 10 more minutes

Pretty darned simple if you ask me.
According to everything I've read - I probably cooked them a little longer than most recipes call for. They were done well for me, moist and tender. I think I've conquered my FOP. StumbleUpon

16 comments:

Ricki said...

Good for you for mastering the fear! I must say it was never something I ate, either, even when I did eat meat.

Bunny said...

Pork chops can be a pain in the chops to make sometimes, I mean you don't want to cook them so they're dry, it's not easy to make pork juicey, you did a fantastic job here.

Dragon said...

Come on over to the dark side, sweetie. :) Your chops are top!

That Girl said...

I actually just picked up some pork chops to make next week - some of my soups aren't passover friendly.

kat said...

We love pork but pork chops always came out dry for us. We found for us the trick was to brine them first.

FOODalogue said...

Interesting. To me, pork is one of the easier meats to cook especially a roast. Your dish looks great so I hope you'll experiment with other cuts.

Melissa said...

Honestly, I think it's so easy to overcook them and people get turned off. I've finally done well with them for about 6 months now, so I'm glad you've conquered your FOP because they're awesome!

grace said...

we must never fear the pig! i hope the other white meat finds its way into your regular diet soon. :)

alexandra said...

You know, I have similar trouble with pork. I love it in all of its various bacon incarnations, but I tend to overcook chops and loins. The only cut I generally have success with are pork tenderloins, which seem to remain pretty moist.

Dewi said...

When my husband is on business trip, I treat my self and my son to make this pork chops, but always fail. I just have know idea to cook it the right way. You see, unlike you who fear the the pork, I fail the pork (is it the correct way to say it). Forgive my English is just awefull, but I am sure you not what I mean.
Cheers,
elra

p.s yours look delish for real.

Pam said...

Healthy and delicious dinner. Looks great.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I never grew up eating much pork either even though I grew up in Southern Ontario where some of the best pork is found. This does sound like an excellent way to introduce this tender meat.

Ivy said...

Next to chicken I prefer pork especially pork chops. Pork is much healthier because the fat is visible and you can always remove it.

Unknown said...

I totally had FOP too - until I realized pork chops are almost easier than chicken in terms of cooking :) This looks great.

Ruth Strong said...

Ooooooh I love a good pork chop

Jude said...

Can't imagine not having pork for a few days. It's all about the belly for me :)

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