Nurturing my inner... pork and beans

Mostly when I think about having pork for dinner, I prefer it barbecued.  Slow-roasted with a rich, smoky, sweet sauce.  Maybe a tenderloin with mashed potatoes.  Mom used to make pork chops fairly often, but they always seemed kind of dry to me.  So I was off to find a way to cook up some tasty, moist pork.  I took my cue from Tuscany.

BTW, I love a slow Sunday of cooking and catching up on home chores.  (Well, mostly the first part, not so much the second.)

Pork Chops & Tuscan Beans

2 thick cut pork chops with the bone
1 can cannellini beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 can diced tomatoes, drained
4 fresh sage leaves
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
2 dried bay leaves
2 tbsps olive oil
1/4 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, cut in big chunks
3 carrots, diced
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 tsp salt

Go to a respectable butcher, if you got one.  Here in Virginia, they aren't stand alone like in Connecticut.  So I went to one of the best meat market sections of a local grocery store I know of - Wegmans!  I talked to the butcher and his advice was to go for the bone in, center cut chop.  He said the bone gives the meat more flavor and would work especially well with my plans.  A one pot meal.

Brown wrapper. So traditional.

I got them home and unwrapped them.  Wow, they were a couple of formidable hunks of pig.  Was I prepared to be in charge of this much meat?  Seeing as I meant this to be a two portion (or two person) meal, it felt a little less intimidating.  So I jumped right in to tackle this dish!

Seems like special dinner ingredients, but
they just make an ordinary day special.

In my ever trusty Le Creuset 5.5 French oven on medium heat, I added some olive oil and sauteed up the onions, garlic and carrots until just translucent and soft.  About five minutes.  I removed and placed in a bowl.

Some base flavor veggies to get started.

Back into the French oven on medium to medium-high heat went a little more olive oil and the two chops that I lightly salted and peppered on each side.

Lean meat.

I seared the chops on each side until golden brown.  Then removed them and put aside on a plate.

Nice crisp edge on exterior.

My pot was a thing of beauty.  Full of flavor bits.  I didn't want to lose those!



Future good stuff.


I was going to fill the pot up with lots of great things.  For one, some fresh and dried herbs to really add that Tuscan spin.  Woodsy, aromatic, strong.  A great compliment to pork which is not a rich meat.  It needs some help.  The beans will soak up the flavors as well.

Heady and powerful.

So into that gorgeous pot full of left over pork drippings went the lot of it.  Which is why this is a fabulous meal.  The carrot, onion and garlic mixture from earlier, broth, water, beans, tomatoes, herbs and salt.  Be sure to use a wooden spoon when you stir and loosen up all the bits on the bottom to flavor the liquid.

Ah, fall in a pot.

On top of that went the seared pork chops.  They will shrink a little as they cook, so jam them in there.

Pork submerged.

Lid on and into a 350 degree oven for approximately two hours and 15 minutes.  Enough time for me to tidy up my place, fold fresh laundry and pay bills.  (Who says you can't get several things done at the same time!)  I checked on it a couple times and scooped the broth over the top of the pork to keep it well juiced.

Liquid has reduced and thickened with
the beans.

After the low and slow cook, the pork became fork tender and stayed moist because of all the liquid.  There are different ways to serve it.  A couple of big ladles of the bean mixture in the bottom of a shallow bowl with a whole pork chop on top is how I would have done it if I was entertaining formally.  In this case, I was trying to make meals for the week for me and I wasn't sure I could finish up an entire monster chop that night, so I opted for flaking off large chunks of pork in the cooking pot with the beans and scooping it all up together.



Hearty, yet light.

A friend of mine was texting me as I was taking the pot out of the oven and I told her to drop on by.  Of course I had in mind to use her as a tester and I'm proud to report she said it was a keeper!  A little crusty bread to dip in the liquid and that's all you need.