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Pork Chops in Milk Marinade

Posted on  - Last updated: Categories Beef, Pork and Lamb, Main Dish, Pasta and Rice, Romanian Cooking, Romanian Main Course

By: Author Adina

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Easy recipe for pork chops in milk marinade with lots of garlic and seared in the skillet. Served with vegetable rice.

pork chops with rice and vegetables

Milk brined or milk marinated pork chops – a super easy, cheap, and tasty recipe suitable for any season. And look at those golden chops, don’t they make your mouth water? This is a Gypsy recipe actually. If you would like to try more of them, have a look at these Potatoes with Bacon, this Pork, Rice and Cabbage Stew, or this Garlic Pepper Chicken.

How to tenderize pork chops with milk?

Apparently, milk is more effective in tenderizing meat than other marinades. The milk enzymes seem to break the proteins, softening the fibers and making the meat more tender.

Other milk products suitable for tenderizing meat (not only pork but chicken or beef as well) are yogurt or buttermilk. However, they will make the meat tangier, while milk keeps is not only tender but also more genuine in taste.

How long to marinade the meat?

  • For at least 2 hours and preferably overnight, so up to 24 hours. I keep it in the marinade overnight most of the time.
pork chops with rice and vegetables

Tips for best results

Flavors:

  • Flavor the milk marinade by adding spices or dried herbs.
  • In this case, lots of garlic, it imparts the chops an amazing flavor.
  • Alternative spices: sweet, hot or smoked paprika, ground cumin or/and coriander, spice mixtures used for pork, and so on.
  • Alternative herbs: rosemary, savory, thyme.

Dish:

  • Use a non-metallic container for marinating the meat, metal might react with the ingredients of the marinade, changing the flavor of the brine.
  • Glass casserole dishes (like Pyrex, for instance) are great, they are large and flat, you can arrange the meat inside in one layer and cover it evenly with the milk brine. (Amazon affiliate link)
  • Always keep the marinating meat refrigerated. And covered.
  • However, remove it from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking, so that the meat has time to reach room temperature.

How to brine pork in milk?

  • Sprinkle the meat generously with salt on both sides.
  • Place in the marinating dish.
  • Mix about 1 cup milk with the grated garlic cloves and distribute evenly all over the meat.
  • Add the remaining milk, making sure that the chops are covered with the liquid.
  • Cover the dish with its lid or with plastic foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
  • Remove from the fridge about 30 minutes prior to cooking.
pork chops with rice and vegetables

How to cook in a skillet?

  • Shake the meat well to remove the marinade and pat dry with kitchen towels. The meat really has to be dry.
  • Mix together flour, salt, pepper, and sweet paprika powder. Use this mixture to season the chops, press lightly to make sure it coats the meat well.
  • Heat the oil in a large cast-iron skillet. A non-stick pan would do the job as well.
  • The bottom of the pan should be covered in a very thin layer of oil, about 2 tablespoons oil should be OK.
  • Fry the chops on one side for 3 minutes. Turn and cook for further 2 minutes until golden.
  • If the pork chops are thinner, reduce the cooking time. If they are thicker add a couple more minutes.
  • Don’t overcook the meat, it can still be slightly pink in the middle.
  • Let rest on a warm platter for a few minutes before serving.

How to serve?

  • Serve immediately after the short resting time.
  • Make sure to pour the juices accumulated into the platter while the meat is resting over the meat on the serving plate, they are delicious!
  • You can serve with the bonus rice recipe below or any kind of rice you like.
  • Other suitable side dishes are potatoes in any form: mashed, oven-baked, sauteed, and so on.
  • Or try some pan-fried or baked sweet potato slices.
  • Add some vegetables like Brussels sprouts or cauliflower in winter or a fresh green salad with yogurt dressing or vinaigrette in summer.

More pork recipes:

Pork Chop Burgers

Baked Chops and Potatoes

Pistachio Crusted Tenderloin

Katsu Sando

Pork in Tomato Sauce

pork chop marinated in milk served with rice and lemon slices

Pork Chops in Milk Marinade

Yield: 4
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour

Easy recipe for pork chops in milk marinade with lots of garlic and seared in the skillet. Served with vegetable rice.

Ingredients

  • Pork chops:
  • 4 pork chops, about 175-200 g/ 6-7 oz each
  • 5 garlic cloves
  • about 750 ml/ 25 fl.oz/ about 3 cups milk (Note)
  • sweet paprika powder
  • about 1 tablespoon flour
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • fine sea salt and black pepper
  • Rice:
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 small bell pepper
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 cup long-grain rice
  • 2 tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ teaspoon sweet paprika powder
  • ½ teaspoon dry marjoram
  • 500 ml/ 17 fl.oz/ 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
  • fine sea salt and pepper

Instructions

Milk marinade:

  1. Generously sprinkle the pork chops with salt. Place them in a shallow, earthenware or porcelain casserole dish.
  2. Grate the garlic and mix it with about one cup of the milk. Pour this milk carefully over the pork chops. Pour more milk until the pork chops are completely covered with milk.
  3. Cover the dish with plastic foil and place it in the fridge for several hours or overnight. Remove the dish from the fridge about one hour before you start cooking the meat.



Rice:

  1. Chop the onions and the garlic very finely. Heat the oil in a pot and cook the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.
  2. While the onions are cooking, cut the carrot into thin slices or half slices. Slice the pepper and the zucchini as well. Add the vegetables to the pot and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the washed and drained rice and stir for a couple of minutes.
  4. In the meantime chop the tomatoes into small cubes. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sweet paprika, and marjoram to the pot and stir well. Add broth and some pepper.
  5. Cover and let cook on low heat for about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked to your liking.



Cook pork chops:

  1. While the rice is cooking start with the pork chops. Take them out of the brine and dry them very well with kitchen paper. Mix flour, salt, pepper, and sweet paprika powder and use the mixture to coat the meat on both sides.
  2. Heat the oil in a skillet or another pan. You should have a thin film of oil on the entire bottom of the skillet, two tablespoons were enough for my 12-inch skillet.
  3. Add the pork and cook for 3 minutes on one side until golden, turn and continue cooking for another 2 minutes until golden. You might add one minute or so if the chops are on the larger side. However, make sure to check if the meat is done to your liking.
  4. Transfer pork chops to a warm plate, cover loosely with foil, and let rest for a few minutes until the rice is done and the table is set. Place the meat on serving plates and pour some of the meat juices collected in the platter over the rice and the meat. Serve immediately.

Notes

Use enough milk to completely submerge the meat.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1/4 of the dish
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 594Total Fat: 30gSaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 19gCholesterol: 136mgSodium: 582mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 48g

Nutritional information is not always accurate.

© Adina
Cuisine: Gypsy / Category: Beef, Pork and Lamb
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