A Gypsy recipe for pork chops brined in milk with lots of garlic and seared in the skillet. Served with a delicious vegetable rice.
The last recipe in this Gypsy Recipe Series on Where Is My Spoon and like I have mentioned it before each recipe from this series was a total hit in our family, especially with the children. Must be all the meat, I don’t know… 🙂 🙂 They loved the Pork Chop Burgers with Mustard and Onions and adored the Skillet Chicken in Garlic and Roasted Pepper Sauce and actually thoroughly enjoyed each an every dish from the Gypsy Series. Sometimes I get lucky that way! 🙂 🙂
This will be another short post, but we are still on holiday and I would very much like to take the time and do something with my family instead on sitting in front of the laptop.
But I can only recommend this recipe: it actually takes a very short time to cook, the brining does take a day but you don’t have to do anything to the meat after you have put it into the milk. And to cook it afterward takes less than 10 minutes. The brining makes the pork chops wonderfully tender and aromatic due to that garlic and the little flour you sprinkle on the meat before you actually fry it makes the pieces of meat a bit crispy on the outside.
So, I hope you enjoyed this series as much as we did and I wish you a very nice weekend.
Ingredients
- For the pork chops:
- 4 pork chops, about 175-200 g/ 6-7 oz
- 5 garlic cloves
- about 750 ml/ 25 fl.oz/ about 3 cups milk (See note)
- sweet paprika powder
- about 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- For the rice:
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 large carrot
- 1 small bell pepper
- 1 small zucchini
- 200 g/ 7 oz long-grain rice
- 2 tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon dry marjoram
- 500 ml/ about 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- salt and pepper
- parsley
Instructions
Generously sprinkle the pork chops with salt. Place them in a shallow, earthenware or porcelain casserole dish. 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.
Cover the dish with plastic foil and place in the fridge for several hours or overnight.
Remove the dish from the fridge about one hour before you start cooking the meat.
To make the rice, 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.
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.
Add the washed and drained rice and stir for a couple of minutes. In the meantime chop the tomatoes into small cubes.
Add the tomatoes and the tomato paste to the pot and stir very well. Add the chicken or vegetable broth, some pepper, sweet paprika and the marjoram. Cover and let cook on low heat for about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is cooked to your liking. Sprinkle with parsley.
While the rice is cooking start with the pork chops. Take them out of the brine and dry them very well with kitchen paper.
Sprinkle them generously with salt, pepper and sweet paprika powder on both sides.
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.
When the oil is hot give the pork chops to the skillet. 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.
Give the pork chops to a warm plate, cover it loosely with foil and let the meat rest for a few minutes until the rice is done and the table is set. Give it to the serving plates and pour some of the meat juices collected in the plate over the rice and the meat. Serve immediately with green salad.
Notes
Note: the amount of milk needed might vary. Just make sure that the meat is submerged in the milk.
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8 comments
It sounds wonderful and I love the idea of milk-brining. I’ve never brined pork in anything and since I’m a big pork lover, I definitely will try it. It’s funny, but I was a huuuuge carnivore as a child too! I wanted to eat tons of meat at every meal.
Hi Adina – Wow do these porks chops look so GOOD!!! No wonder your kids enjoyed. I’m intrigued by the milk soak – sounds easy. I have made pork chops that are tough, but these look anything but. Will have to give these a try. Hope all is well and you are having a lovely vacation! XO
My son loves pork chops and I’ve been cooking them a lot more lately. How could this dinner not be a huge hit with your kids. Looks really scrumptious – perfect thing to lure everyone to the table.
brining in milk is such a fantastic trick to have up one’s sleeve!
I’m loving your Gypsy series like many of your recipe series! My son LOVES his pork chops…probably too much! This recipe looks so delish!!! You deserve your vacation and I agree, sometimes you just have to step away from the computer and just be there with your family.
Now that is a plate of food that makes me very, very hungry. I’m loving your gypsy recipes!
Could I mix half milk half water? Or could I use evaporated milk?
Hi Missy. I always use low-fat milk, which has 1.8% fat. I would not go lower than that and I would not add water. I’ve never used evaporated milk.