German Style Sauerkraut Pork Chops

I tried this recipe out quite a while ago but I never got around to posting it up. Really nice and thick pork chops were on sale at our local grocery store, so we bought a huge pack. I tried making some Hainanese Pork Chops (blogged about it a while back) with about half of the pack and I had three large pieces left over from it. I googled for some pork chop recipes and found this delicious recipe. Since Kevin totally loves sauerkraut (I'm guessing cos he is half German? :P), I decided to try this recipe out. It turned out to be really good, so I'm gonna share it with all of you.

Start off by arranging some apple slices on a large baking dish. Just core some apples and slice them into thin slices. It doesn't really have to be perfect, just make sure that it covers the whole bottom of the pan.
Then, brown your pork chops in a large pan. You can sprinkle on some seasoned salt to give it some taste. You do not have to fully cook the pork chops, just make sure that they are nice and brown. The purpose of this is to give those pork chops some color.
Once they are nicely browned, place them on top of the sliced apples and set them aside.
Now it's time to work on the sauerkraut. Start of by sauteing some onions in a pan.
Next, add in some sauerkraut. You can pretty much buy sauerkraut from any grocery store (usually at the deli section). Then, crack in some black pepper and add in some caraway seeds.
After mixing all of the ingredients together, pour in some apple juice. At this point, some people would add in some applesauce and/or apple slices too. It's totally up to you. Stir everything together and allow it to cook for a bit. Turn off the heat and your sauerkraut topping is done.
Pour the sauerkraut topping over the pork chops. Make sure that you fully cover the chops.
Cover the top of the baking dish with some aluminum foil and pop it into a 350F oven for about an hour. After an hour or so, your pork chops are ready to be served! It's so easy to make, yet so yummy to eat. The pork chops turned out to be really tender and the flavor was just out of this world! This recipe is definitely a keeper. I served the pork chops up with some of the sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. You should try it. Wash that down with a pint of beer and it will feel like Oktoberfest, right in your own dining room!

Hainanese Pork Chop

We bought a huge pack of pork chops the other day and I have been trying out various pork chop recipes from all over. Today, I will attempt to make Hainanese Pork Chops. This is the most popular style of cooking pork chops back in Malaysia. You can pretty much get them at 'Western Food' stalls in hawker centers through out Malaysia. I believe that this recipe was invented by Hainanese chefs back in the day when the British still ruled Malaya. Those chefs did an awesome job in adding in a little bit of Asian influence into a predominantly Western dish. Yes folks, looks like those Hainanese chefs have been dishing out 'fusion food' wayyyy before it became the IN thing :P So, here's my version of the Hainanese Pork Chop.

Before we start on the pork chops, we need to prepare the potatoes that will be served alongside. Peel one extra large potato (you can use two if your potatoes are small) and cut it into wedges. Toss it in oil and sprinkle on some seasoned salt. Then, crack in some black pepper and mix everything together.
Place the wedges on a foil lined baking sheet and pop them into a preheated 375F oven for about 20 mins. Remove the potatoes from the oven and flip them over. Pop them back in for another 20 mins or so and it should be done.
While the potatoes are in the oven, we can start frying up the pork chops. I have pre marinated the pork chops with a mix of Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, a tiny bit of oyster sauce and black pepper for about 24 hours. All you need to do is to fry the pork chops up in a pan until it is cooked through. Then, remove the pork chops from the pan and set them aside.
Now, it's time to work on the sauce. Add in some sliced onions into the pan that we used earlier to fry up the pork chops. Saute them for a little bit.
Then, add in some frozen peas and carrots. Mix them in with the onions.
After about a minute, add in some Worcestershire sauce. Mix it well with the vegetables. The sauce will deglaze the pan and the flavors will be just so delicious.
Then, add is some ketchup. This will further enhance the taste of the sauce.
Mix everything together and allow it to cook. Once it is cooked, add in some corn flour mixed with some chicken stock. This will help thicken up the sauce. Stir it for a bit and once the sauce thickens, it is ready to be serve. Just pour the hot sauce over the pork chops and serve it with the potatoes that we made earlier. You can also serve it up with a side salad. This is really an awesome dish, you should try it!

Marmalade Glazed Pork Chops

I found some nice looking pork chops on sale at our local grocery store the other day. Instead of cooking up those pork chops the way that I usually would, I thought that I would search the Internet for something new to try. I came upon quite a few "Marmalade Glazed Pork Chops" recipes, so I decided to combine all of them together and came up with this. It turned out to be really yummy, so I figured I should share it with all of you.

Start off by marinating the pork chops. I just sprinkled on some Lawry's Seasoned Salt on the chops and placed them in a Ziploc bag to marinade overnight. If you don't really have time, you can just marinade them for about an hour or two. It should work too. The next step is to brown the chops. All you need to do is pan fry the chops on high heat in a frying pan for a bit. You do not need to cook through, we just need to give them some color.

While the pork chops are browning in the frying pan, line a baking dish with some orange slices.

Once the pork chops are nicely browned, place them in the baking dish, on top of the orange slices. At this point, the pork chops should look nice and brown on the outside but is still raw/semi raw in the inside. Set it aside and return to the frying pan.

Now it's time to deglaze the pan. We want to save all the caramelized yummy stuff that is stuck on the pan when we were browning the pork chops. Just pour in some orange juice into the pan. I can't really tell you how much OJ I used cause I just eyeballed it. Just enough to deglaze the pan.

Stir the orange juice with a spatula, making sure that you get all the caramelized stuff off the pan.

Then, add in a few big tablespoons of marmalade. Stir in the marmalade and allow it to cook for a little. Once it starts to get bubbly, turn off the heat and your glaze is done.

Once the glaze is done, it's time to put everything together. Just spread on the glaze onto pork chops that is already in the baking dish. If you like, you can pour in some orange juice into the bottom of the pan. This is to help give moisture when it's baking in the oven, so that the pork chops will remain nice and juicy.

Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and pop it into a 350F preheated oven for about 40 minutes. Certain ovens might take longer while some might take shorter. You would just have to check every once in a while, after it has been in the oven for over half an hour.

There you go! The piping hot and juicy Marmalade Glazed Pork Chops, freshly out from the oven. Since orange and pork goes pretty well with Oriental side dishes, I served the pork chops with some flavored rice and some stir fried baby bok choi. Another yummy, quick and hassle free dinner for the Podanys!