I usually wind up in the kitchen when I want to do something for someone I love. When our son Cole lived nearby, I was always baking favorites like pumpkin bread, green chile and bacon quiche, and enchilada casserole for him to take home. Sadly, that had to a stop when Cole left for Brooklyn, but my father-in-law John helped me fill the void.
About the time Cole moved to the NYC area, my sweet mother-in-law Jo passed away leaving John a bachelor for the first time in more than 60 years. I tried to help out by fixing meals for him routinely.
Since John was a meat-and-potatoes sort of guy, he especially enjoyed these pork chops.
The recipe is based on one by Diane Lincer from a cookbook called By His Hands, We All Are Fed... that our Sunday School class put together back in 1985. (Cole wasn't even born then!) My mother Patsy suggested this idea when I was looking for something different to prepare for John, saying it was an easy way to fix chops with fantastic brown gravy. And boy was she right!
My version of this comfort food classic includes even more gravy than the original because I'm crazy for condiments. But it's still super simple and the chops turn out oh, so tender.
You need only four ingredients: pork chops, cream of chicken soup, Heinz ketchup (sorry, no substitutes will do) and Worcestershire sauce.
Start about 1 1/2 hours before you plan to serve this saucy sensation (most of that time is for baking) or make it a day ahead. After trimming all the fat from the chops, toss them in a frying pan - no grease needed - and cook over medium heat until nice and brown.
Once the chops are brown, pour the sauce over them and move the frying pan to the oven to bake for one hour. What could be easier?
Bob and I like this recipe so much that I usually make it at least once a month. New Year's Day, I served it with rolls and black-eyed peas (Yummmmm!) but it's also outstanding with scalloped potatoes. Whatever your choice, these gravy-covered chops are sure to WOW! your family.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Remove extra fat from chops.
Brown chops well.
Mix soup, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, pour over chops.
Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
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