Recipe: Easy Smothered Creamy Mushroom-Garlic Pork Chops

Yes, a really long title. I might change it. We'll see. Or maybe I'll add one more word with 2 syllables. Then it will be the correct cadence for a song. 😆

How about: "Easy Smothered Creamy Dreamy Mushroom-Garlic Pork Chops?" 😆

This recipe has been in meal rotation here for many, many, many years. It comes up every once in a while. It is not a weekly thing. I can't remember where it came from. I don't remember if it was family related. I know I didn't get it from a cookbook, though it is likely that it's in one (or 10,000) somewhere. And if not, then it should be. 

It's easy, and it can get even easier and still be tasty. The version in the pic above took a little more time, but not that much. This recipe serves 2, if you're planning on each person getting 2 chops (which is always a fair amount, though it is over the recommended amount). And when I say "fair amount," I mean fair as in evenly divided and fair as in a large amount, but not too large (unless you are following the chart re: servings of meat per meal or per day). 

They turned out so tender and lovely. No knife required. Great flavor. 

You'll need: 

4 pork chops (thinly sliced. You can use thicker, but add extra cooking time)

Mushroom soup (canned or equivalent amount of homemade)

Milk (which you won't need if you use homemade mushroom soup)

*****1 med. garlic clove - use fresh if you have it! The powder just doesn't cut it for this one.

S&P

Oil for sautéing (extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or whatever you normally use) 

Approx. 3/4 c A/P flour for dredging. 

You can do this in one pan if the pan you are using is oven friendly. Otherwise, a baking dish large enough to hold the chops will be necessary. 

Method: 

• Sprinkle both sides of chops with S&P. The salt should be to your taste, but go heavier on the pepper. (Also, be careful with the salt if you use canned mushroom soup. Some of them have too much salt.)

• Rub the S&P in, then let them sit for a few minutes (this is a short dry brine, but with cuts of meat like this, you don't really need a long one). 

• Mince the garlic clove(s).

• Place the flour in a bowl or whatever you use for dredging. Add 1 tsp. black pepper and mix well.

• Start heating the oil in the frying pan, medium heat. You don't need a lot of oil, just 1/4 inch (or so) depth. 

• Dredge the chops & brown them on both sides, placing them on a plate  or sheet pan until all are browned. 

• Drain off the oil, but leave the good bits in the bottom of the pan (leave the "fond," if you need chef-speak. lol). 

• Dump the mushroom soup in the pan. If you're using canned, fill the can 3/4 of the way up with milk and dump that in too. Stir until well combined.***

• Place chops in pan. Divide minced garlic into fourths & use 1/4 for each chop (sprinkle over each). Spoon some of the mushroom soup over the chops to cover the garlic. 

• Put a lid on the pan and put it in the oven. Set oven to 350 degrees. You can preheat the oven, but it really isn't necessary. 

• Bake for 30-40 minutes. Check for tenderness at the 30 minute mark. They should already be tender. I usually leave them in for another 5 or 10 minutes after that check. (Your oven mileage may vary. 😄)

If you are using a separate baking pan, just put a small amount of the soup on the bottom, then the chops, sprinkle with garlic, then pour the rest of the soup over the top & cover before baking. 

You can also make this dish without sautéing. I have done it more than once in the past when I just didn't have time or energy to brown the chops. It is still really good this way, but it is over the top good if you brown the chops first. Over the top & beyond if you use homemade mushroom soup. 

I'm not sure if I ever posted a good mushroom soup recipe on the blog, but if I haven't, I'll do that real soon. It's pretty easy. The biggest PITA is chopping the shrooms. 😄 Other than that, it's NBD. 

***Alternatively, you can just make a mushroom gravy/sauce  if you toss some sliced shrooms in the pan (4 to 6 oz.) After pulling the chops out, drain the oil until 2-3 Tbsps. remain and sauté until slightly brown. Let most of the liquid evaporate. Then toss in some flour (2-3 Tbsps.). Keep stirring & let flour cook for 3 minutes (still the sweet spot for getting rid of the raw flour taste, as far as I know.) 

Add milk a little at a time until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. You can also use a little water or stock if you don't want to go crazy with the milk. Add a little heavy cream too, if you have any. Maybe 1/4 c or so.

Taste & adjust salt if needed. Then proceed with the rest of the recipe. That amount should be enough for the dish. I'll run a check on it & adjust here if needed (hopefully I won't have to, but it's possible). 

 

Restaurant Review: Bellville Meat Market

If you haven't visited Bellville Meat Market, you should. They have a vast array of fresh meats, meats that are already smoked for your convenience, and many other great items. Cheese, jerky, dried sausage, summer sausage, regular sausage (try the double black pepper! Excellent!), and even some desserts. Butchers are on call at the meat counter to serve you in a prompt and courteous manner. 

But that is not what this blog post is about. We'll save all that wonderful stuff for another day. Today we are covering the "restaurant" portion of the meat market. BBQ plates, sandwiches, and loaded baked potatoes are on the menu.

This is our "go-to" place for brisket in Austin County. The brisket is always moist, tender, and flavorful. No sauce needed. I have never had bad brisket from Bellville Meat Market. You can order it by the pound, which is what we usually do. You can get slices that are lean, or opt for a fattier version. Just ask. 

One day we decided to get a couple of side orders with a pound of brisket. The brisket was wonderful, as always. 

The beans were okay. Could have been better though. 

The bacon Mac & cheese? No. Just no. The processed cheese completely overwhelmed the bacon and macaroni. It was like eating straight processed cheese that had texture. I know there are plenty of people who like the processed cheese (especially Velveeta.) We even use it here for dips on occasion. But it is pretty strong, so you need a good balance. Unfortunately, the Mac & cheese did not have that balance. So avoid it unless you are a dyed-in-the-wool Velveeta lover. One who could just drink the stuff with a straw.

The sauce. Well, just like everywhere else, it could use massive improvement. It's thin and sad. I never use it when we get brisket because their brisket is always so good. It's not bothersome on a sandwich either. But alone...forget it. It is not the "old timey" sauce that's in its own food group. 

Sad Sauce

If you're passing through Bellville and you have a hankerin' for some good brisket, go to Bellville Meat Market. They have tables outside for dining, or you can take it with you. 

Just look at that gorgeous, juicy brisket! I wish I had some right now. 

Restaurant Review: Spring Creek Barbeque

 

The BBQ joint that used to be better. I don't know....20 or 30 years ago? We visited Spring Creek recently because of a brisket craving, and... 

MISTAKE. MISTAKE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. I can't hold back on this one.

Seriously...we would have had a better BBQ meal if we had gone to H.E.B. and picked up a pre-cooked brisket and sides. There definitely would have been more bang for the buck with that option.

It seems to be the bane of many BBQ restaurants these days. They make the BBQ, which may or may not be good caliber, then serve it with pre-made sides and watery BBQ sauce. If the BBQ is of good caliber, you know you can just skip the sides & order a pound or two. 

I wouldn't even recommend that here. The brisket was okay, but not "it's so freakin' good I could eat two pounds of it all by myself without anything else and be happy as a clam" caliber brisket. 

Spring Creek, 

WTH??!!  Please don't claim you represent Texas BBQ. It's an embarrassment. Nothing but BS on the website too. Yeah, I know, you can't expect it to look just like the pictures...blah blah blah...we are way beyond that. 

Potato salad soup, Anyone?

How about some canned green beans?

What is the deal with the lame rolls? 

Where is the smoke ring on the brisket? Was it smoked in an oven?

How in the world can you serve food like this and charge such insane prices and not be ashamed? 

I guess it stopped being about the BBQ long, long ago and love of $$$ took over. 

You really can serve better quality food and still make a profit. 

Instead, we get all of the bells and whistles, and ads proclaiming BBQ greatness, but it is all a lie. It's simply a restaurant skating on longevity to bring customers in. They have been around for SUCH A LONG TIME...surely they must be good, right? 

Nope. Not this time. Somewhere along the way, they lost the magic. 

The food was packed with military precision. Brisket snuggled under its blanket of foil, sides in separate containers with lids to prevent leakage. If the food was as great as the way it was packed, they'd be in great shape! 

On the other hand, that's a lot of unnecessary containers. It is BBQ, for Pete's sake! Load that plate up using the separate compartments as intended. Forget about a "space blanket" for the brisket. The only thing in danger is the bread, which needs to be protected from moisture until the food is about to be consumed. None of that other ridiculous rigamarole! BBQ is supposed to be a little bit messy. People will learn not to tilt the plate and end up with mixed food. Let them learn. It builds character. 

It always saddens me to have to apply the mango forks, but Spring Creek definitely deserves them for their BBQ scam. 

Restaurant Review: Prasek's Smokehouse

Dry ass brisket, premade potato salad, watery coleslaw mush

Prasek's (Sealy location) has many wonderful food items, but their smoked brisket isn't one of them. We had it once before, (a couple of years ago), and it was just as dry then as the second try recently. 

What didn't help? The "bbq" sauce. It tasted like cocktail sauce. Yes! Really! Looked like ketchup, tasted like cocktail sauce. I really wanted some boiled shrimp after I tasted it. 

I don't recall if they have shrimp on the menu, but I hope so, because at least that would be a good reason that we ended up with this stuff...by mistake. If not then they have a LOT of work to do on their bbq sauce. 

Seems to be a trend these days that no matter where you go, the BBQ sauce sucks. What happened to that wonderful, "old timey" sauce that is in its own food group? I would have expected Prasek's to have BBQ sauce like that. 

In case y'all missed the memo, Prasek's: Cocktail sauce & brisket is not a good combo. SMH

Okay...so...on to the side orders. Pre-made potato salad. Very sad. Also, I wanted beans but ended up with coleslaw. That would have been okay except the coleslaw was mush. Really, really watery too. It had an essence of mayo, but just looking at it, you couldn't see that it was there. Because it was so damn watery! Ugh! 

I finished the meal, but I was not a happy camper. Didn't touch that cocktail sauce after the first taste though. Everyone else who had bbq didn't eat their sauce either. 

Let's do better, Prasek's! Unfortunately, you get the mango forks for the brisket; the pre-made potato salad; the watery, mushy coleslaw; and the freakin cocktail sauce! smh

I have no complaints about anything else I have purchased there, though. They have a fabulous selection of food, whether you want something that's ready-to-eat or want fresh meats to prepare at home. 

Restaurant Review: WTH, Chuy's?

It looks promising, doesn't it? 
But it was a broken promise.

We had high hopes, because Chuy's used to be pretty good. It saddens me that this location seems to have gone down the tubes. I have to preface this with the fact that they were not busy when we went over there after the lunch hour on a Saturday. So throw that excuse out the window. 

The first issue was with tea. First of all, it was weak AF, but that was the least of it. Most places have sweet tea that's entirely too sweet, so I always get unsweetened and sweeten my own. 

Maybe I am not remembering correctly, but I could have sworn that Chuy's kept sugar & other sweeteners on each table. That wasn't the case here, so I asked for sugar packets on the side. The server that delivered the drinks didn't have them (I guess our server forgot to mention it), so I asked her for sugar packets. 

She brings me pink packets of generic sweet & low. Ummm....no. I'm sure the expression on my face must have resembled Bruce Willis's face in the 5th Element when Baby Ray threw him the billiard halls instead of the gun. 

Our original server visited next, so I asked him for some sugar packets. He brought me 3 each of every sweetener. So I had sugar, and pink, blue, and yellow sweetener packets. The next time he came by,  I just asked him to bring me more white packets. Apparently, if you need sweetener here, you must ask for the color you like. There should be a warning on the front door.

I'm still a little puzzled about that. I could understand one person not knowing sugar from faux sugar, but two on the same day at the same restaurant? Are the servers informed about sweeteners and the differences or does Chuy's just assume everyone knows what's what? Why didn't they know? Very strange. 

Next...the food. Well...the pico de Gallo was nice & fresh. The jalapeno dip wasn't as good as it used to be. Everyone remarked that it tasted like ranch dressing. I thought it used to be a little thicker too. We also had some queso which, while not spectacular, was at least passable. The refried beans & rice were good.

BUT...

Entrees...oh boy...still so disappointed about these...

I ordered chicken enchiladas with boom-boom sauce. The boom-boom sauce was so weak, it wasn't even one boom. I'd say it was about 1/4 of a boom. No good, spicy OOMPH, and the aftertaste was like Campbell's vegetable soup. 

And the chicken...omg. Slices & chunks instead of shredded, and ohhhh sooooooo pale. So, so pale. No caramelization at all. Poached? Boiled? Steamed? I don't know, but the chicken was bland AF, and the "boom-boom sauce" did not help much. No Big Bada Boom here...the fuse fizzled out on that bomb.

Just look how pale that chicken is!
Poach that bitch with some spices next time, FPS!

For comparison, I'll tell you what the previous experiences with this dish were like: So good, you could have just gobbled the whole thing down lickety-split and then ordered another. It used to be packed with flavor, not this poor rendition that was heavy on the bouillon in the boom-boom sauce and the tortillas stuffed with chicken chunks poached as pale as tourist legs on a sunny beach. 

I wasn't the only one with issues. 

Cheese enchiladas served cold, like revenge. 

Fajita Platter Flop: OMG! Just look at the picture. Real grill lines or painted? Dry AF. Does this look appetizing? HELL no. 

Maybe rename them "Faux-jitas"?

 Tacos al Carbon: Dry, dry, dry. Stiff tortillas. And get a load of those bell peppers and onions! Just like the ones on the fajita platter, no caramelization at all. Frankly, caramelized onions & bells are absolutely required for fajitas! 

He gave up and just ate the meat.

So I am here to ask, and rightfully so: What the HELL, Chuy's? What happened to the reliable Chuy's? What was this nonsense? It wasn't even worth the calories! If I'm going to consume that many calories, the food needs to have some FLAVOR! 

Taco Bell would have been a better choice. It's terribly sad to have to say such a thing, but it's true. 

This happened at the location in Katy. I hope these problems aren't company wide. But there were so many! It wasn't just one thing that was bad. That would be a different story. Either something changed with the company, or this location does not adhere to company standards. 

Fix it! You are an embarrassment to Austin, Texas at this point! 

It pains me to have to do this, but you get the mango forks for that fiasco. Fix it! Bring back the good Chuy's and usher the imposter out of the door!