Cajun Smothered Pork Chops
This classic Cajun/Creole dish is as old as Louisiana cooking itself. While being a simple dish with few ingredients, technique is absolutely critical.
Take your time browning the pork chops and onions, and you will be rewarded with a dark, rich gravy and fall off the bone, succulent chicken.
Ingredients:
- 5-6 Pork chops (½-¾ inch thick)
- 2 tablespoons Neutral oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
- 2 medium Yellow onions (chopped)
- 4-5 cloves Garlic (chopped)
- 1 cup Dry white wine (Chardonnay)
- 1 quart Water or chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons Corn starch (dissolved in 2 tablespoons cold water)
- 1 cup Green onions (chopped)
- Louisiana Love Seasoning blends to taste
Method:
- Pat pork chops very dry on paper towels.
- Place a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat and add oil.
- Once oil is shimmering and slightly smokey, add only enough pork chops to cover the bottom without overcrowding.
- Allow to brown well until the pork chops release when turned without sticking, 5-7 minutes.
- Turn all pieces over, browning the other sides. Reduce heat to medium if necessary.
- Continue browning on all sides until a very dark brown color is achieved.
- This should take 25-30 minutes.
- Remove and repeat process for remaining pork chops.
- Add onions, stirring occasionally and cooking until well browned and caramelized.
- Add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, being careful not to burn.
- Deglaze with wine scraping up all the fond.
- Add all the pork chops back to the pot, cover with water or stock, add 1-2 tablespoons of Louisiana Love, and cover.
- Once liquid is boiling, reduce heat to a slow boil and cook for 25-30 minutes until pork is very tender.
- While slowly stirring gravy, add corn starch slurry until desired thickness is reached.
- Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Add green onions.
- Serve over Louisiana rice.
Smothered Potatoes
This classic Cajun dish can serve as the starch for a dish, the side, or even eaten as a meal itself. The flavors are bold and savory as these potatoes go with almost anything.
While any type of potato can be used, thin skinned varieties like red, new, and Yukon gold do not need to be peeled.
The recipe for smothering sweet potatoes is the same as this one, but the flavors are unique and absolutely craveable.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs. Potatoes (washed, peeled, cubed, and covered in cold water)
- 2 tablespoons Neutral oil
- 1 lb. Smoked sausage (sliced into half-moons)
- 2 medium Onions (chopped)
- 3-4 cloves Garlic (chopped)
- 1 quart Water
- 1 cup Green Onions (chopped)
- Louisiana Love Seasoning Blends to taste
Method:
- Place a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat and add oil.
- Add sausage pieces browning well and stirring often, remove and reserve.
- Drain potatoes well and add to pot with onions, stirring to coat with oil.
- Add one cup of water, 2 tablespoons of Louisiana Love, and cover pot.
- Cook potatoes for 10-15 minutes stirring often, adding ½ cup of water as needed to keep a visible amount of liquid in the pot.
- Remove the cover and allow potatoes to stick to the bottom of the pot, then use a stiff spoon, scrape the bottom of the pot turning all the ingredients over.
- This process of allowing the potatoes to stick and brown, then scraping the fond, and stirring everything is where the flavor of this dish comes from.
- It is important not to allow the potatoes to burn. As the dish cooks down, and the potatoes release more and more of their starches, the chances of burning increase.
- It is important to stir more frequently and add small amounts of water to keep the potatoes loose and flowing but still letting them brown.
- Also, lowering the heat to medium will help to manage the browning process.
- Once the potatoes are very soft, and rusty brown in color, reduce heat to low and add the sausage back to the pot along with the garlic.
- Allow to cook for 5-7 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning, add the green onions, turn off the heat, and cover.
Stay hungry!