Pork Chops Shepherd Style

Pork! Whenever I think of the word "pork", I think of the movie Babe.  During one of the scene changes where three little mice say something irreverent, they squeak out "Pork is a good white meat--ahahahaHAHAHA..." in a somewhat maniacal chorus. It has stayed with me ever since.

We had my parents over for dinner the other night and I made these pork chops, after seeing Lidia Bastianich making them on TV.  I adapted the recipe to serve 4 people instead of 6.  Even then, we had plenty of leftovers (these chops were hunky) and used them for sandwiches. Delicious.

Ingredients
4 bone-in pork loin chops, about 1-inch thick, 6 to 8 ounces each
salt and pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, for dredging
2 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
3 small or 2 medium onions, halved and thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
2 plump garlic cloves, sliced
4 oz hunk of provolone, sliced into 4 pieces
3/4 cup white wine (optional)

Note: the nice thing about this recipe is that you can brown the pork and cook the onions ahead of time, and then about 30-45 minutes before you're ready to serve, proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch skillet over medium heat.  Generously season each side of the pork chops with salt and pepper.

Dredge the pork chops in the flour, shake off the excess, and lay the pork chops in the skillet in a single layer.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes until the bottoms are light golden brown, then flip and brown the other side for another 4-5 minutes.

Remove the pork chops to a plate.  Place the sliced onions and garlic into the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown, about 15 minutes (the original recipe says to cover the skillet but I overlooked that).

You can stop at this point.  When ready to continue (or if  you were motoring through to begin with), preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Push the onions over to one side of the skillet and place the pork chops back in the skillet.  Top each pork chop with onions, and lay the slices of provolone over the onions.

Raise the heat to medium high, and when things are sizzling, pour the wine around (not on top of) the pork chops.  Let reduce for a minute or so.  Place the skillet into the oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pork chops and how you like them done.  I like them slightly pink in the center.  Foregoing the more accurate thermometer method to check for doneness, I did the good ol' method of hacking into one with a knife to see how pink it was.

Remove to a platter, let rest for 5 minutes, and serve.  I made this broccoli rabe to go along with the pork. (Note about the broccoli rabe recipe: no need to get rid of the stems, they get soft with the long cooking time, and start checking your greens at 45 minutes or less because the 1 hour 15 minute cooking time in the recipe is a little nutso. Also, I ditched the garlic chip topping .)

Ta-da!