Southern, smothered and fried are three words that seem to naturally go together. One of my favorite meals growing up was my Mom’s smothered pork chops. It took me a while to learn how to master making smothered pork chops the way my Mom does but now even she says ”these are as good as mine”. I think most women will agree that if Mom says a dish tastes as good as her own (and Mom is a great cook) she has hit the jackpot!

When I was around 12 years old my Mom would have me sit and watch her cook everyday until she trusted me to use a knife. It became my job to cut up veggies and measure out ingredients. A couple of years later she passed the baton and I was trusted to make the entire meal. My test of whether or not I had done a good job was if my Dad cleaned his plate without knowing I had cooked. After all, it is hard to complain about a meal once you have sopped up all the drippings.

Now years later I can still tell if a meal is a family hit by whether or not they clean their plates.

To keep my smothered pork chops healthy I use lean center cut chops and frying olive oil to reduce the amount of fat. Also, instead of making a heavy gravy I allow the fried pork chops to steam so the chops make their own gravy seasoned with onions.

Southern, smothered and fried are three words that say de-li-cious!

Smothered Pork Chops

Ingredients:
4-6 lean center cut pork chops or loin chops
1 large onion sliced
1 medium green pepper sliced
1 ½ cups of flour
1 ½ cups chicken broth
½ cup vegetable oil or frying olive oil
½ tsp Gravy Master seasoning and browning sauce
½ tbsp Adobo seasoning
½ tbsp garlic powder
½ tbsp onion powder
½ tbsp seasoned salt
½ tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp salt

Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.

Wash pork chops and place on a sheet of wax paper. Season both sides of pork chops with salt, ½ tsp of pepper and smoked paprika. In a large plastic bag combine remaining seasonings and all but 2 tbsp of flour. Place 1-2 pork chops in the bag and shake to coat the chops. Shake off excess flour and place in hot oil. Brown pork chops for approximately 5-6 minutes on each side. Drain on paper towels.

After pork chops are done pour off all but 2 tbsp of oil and add any crispy goodness back to the frying pan. Reduce heat then add onions and green peppers to the frying pan. Cook until vegetables begin to soften. Add flour and stir until the flour begins to brown but do not let it burn. Slowly pour in chicken broth and whisk to smooth out any lumps. Add browning sauce stirring constantly until well mixed. The sauce will thicken as it cooks to create gravy. Return pork chops to frying pan and cover. Simmer over medium low heat for approximately 20 minutes. Add additional broth or water if gravy is too thick.

Enjoy!!!