Oven Baked Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce

The unfortunate side effect to the H1N1 flu outbreak initially being called swine flu is the misconception that the virus is transmitted through pork meat. This has caused the price of pork to plummet dramatically in many areas and forced some pork farmers out of business. As a result it is now quite easy for the frugal shopper to find pork cuts as low as $1 per pound making this an ideal time to stock-up on pork products.

Pork chops

Throughout the holiday season we attend several fund raising socials that usually include a meal. These types of events are always a lot of fun while providing support the various communities involved. Quite often there is a door prize and raffle tickets are sold for an opportunity to win various donated prizes. Kudos to the various volunteers and those donating prizes for making these types of events possible.

Last Friday we enjoyed a fish fry social. As always their perch and pickerel were fried to perfection! Various packages of meat were raffled off after the meal. My husband won a large package of pork chops! So that was a nice surprise :)

Oven Baked Pork Chops

There is just something about pairing pork with creamy mushroom sauce such a comfort food. This time I put a new spin on an old family favourite. At the same time I tried using a tip from one of the Chef Michael Smith on Food Network Canada. The tip was to layer flavours of the same meat but in different forms to develop depth in flavour. Ideally you should aim for 3 layers. I used bacon grease to sauté the mushroom quarters and to sear the the pork chops to add another layer of pork to the meal. I also used pork stock to deglaze the fry pan after searing the pork chops.

The meal consisted of pork chopes baked in mushroom sauce but instead of using just milk to create the sauce I used half buttermilk. Buttermilk is acidic so works as a tenderizer resulting in melt-in-your-mouth tenderness. The pork chops were served with sautéed mushroom quarters, left-over rustic potatoes and home frozen corn niblets. That is home made sweet butter on the corn. It was a nice comfort meal on a cool, grey and rainy autumn day.

Baking Method for Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce: Heat a stainless steel fry pan with about 2 tbsp of bacon grease on high. Sear pork chops on both sides and place them in a glass casserole dish. Deglaze the pan with a little pork stock. Pour the resulting liquid over the pork chops and set pan aside. Pour 2 cans of condensed mushroom soup into a mixing bowl. Whisk in 1 can whole milk and ¾ can buttermilk. Pour the soup mixture over the meat. Cover with lid or tin foil. Bake at 180ºC/350ºF until soup bubbles. Adjust the lid to cover ¾ of the casserole dish and continue baking until sauce is reduced to desired consistency. Remove lid and continue baking until the edges are golden. Remove from oven.