Pork Chop Casserole

I LOVED this dish as a kid.  I have no idea where my Mom got the recipe, but it wasn't one we had frequently.  She always served it with french style green beans.  I was sad this week when I went to make it and I only had regular cut green beans-  but it was still yummy. 

As with most of the things I cook- I have tweaked how I cook the dish.  In this case I used chicken broth and beef bouillon and added mushrooms (they were about to go bad and I needed to use them).  I didn't notice much of a difference with the chicken broth vs pure beef bouillon or beef broth- so whatever you have available should work great.  The mushrooms were just a nice added veggie. 

I started out by warming three cups of chicken broth (with a beef bullion cube thrown in) and a half of stick of butter. Mom never uses the butter- but I think it helps with the rice (particularly when you re-heat).

The beef bullion cube hasn't dissolved yet- nor the butter melted. 

While the the broth warms and butter melts I started searing the pork chops.  I used bone in pork chops and they were fairly thin sliced.  If you have thin sliced pork chops this a great dish to use them in because the broth and baking keeps them moist and doesn't dry them out like cooking on a grill would.  I used a little bit of olive oil in the pan as I seared the chops since mine did not have a lot of fat on them.  I seasoned my pork chops with Nature's Seasoning (r)- but use whatever you personally like to season meat with. 

After searing each side I placed the chops in a 9x13ish baking dish.  I had six chops so I just placed the last two on top of other pork chops and they cooked fine. 

 
While the pork chops were searing I rough cut mushrooms and onions.  The original recipe (pictured below) called for a half of an onion- but I like onion so I used a whole onion and a whole package of fresh mushrooms.  I also used 2 cloves of garlic- because I put garlic in EVERYTHING. 

I sauteed the mushrooms, garlic and onions in the same pan I used to sear the pork chops- so I didn't loose any flavor.  Wish I could figure out how to not get my shadow in every picture!!!   

I had to add a little more olive oil when I was sauteing my veggie mixture because my pork chops were so lean- but you can decide what you need to use based on your chops. 

After the veggies are al dente add the broth mixture to the veggies and stir.  Make sure to scrape the bottoms to get all the pork bits up.  YUM. 

Sprinkle two cups of regular rice over your pork chops in the baking dish.  Next pour the broth/veggie mixture over that rice and pork chops.  Cover in tin foil and then bake at 350 for about an hour. 

This is what the mixture looks like after you pour the broth/veggies over it.  Again, my shadow haunts the picture.   

The "original" recipe- as published by the Sisters of Sigma Phi Alpha in 1999. 

When you take the casserole out of the oven- be careful when you remove the tin foil- steam will usually rush to escape.  There should be no broth or liquid left.  If there is- just put it back into the oven until all the liquid is gone.

Pork Chop and Rice Casserole-  and my shadow. 

Pork Chop and Rice Casserole

4-6 pork chops (bone in or no bone)
1/2 Cup- 1 Cup of Chopped Onion
1/2 Cup of Butter
3 Cups of Beef Bouillon (or chicken broth/beef broth)
2 Cups of uncooked rice
Salt and Pepper to Taste (or other seasonings)
3-4 cloves of chopped garlic
1 package of mushrooms- chopped

Pre-heat oven to 350.  In a large saucepan slowly heat beef bouillon/chicken broth mixture with 1/2 stick of butter, till butter is completely melted.  In a large skillet, sear seasoned pork chops on both side (but do not cook).  Remove and place in a baking dish (9x13).  Use any grease from the pork chops to saute the mushrooms, onions and garlic till tender.  You may need to add olive oil if you did not have enough grease left over from the pork chops.  Sprinkle rice over pork chops.  Once the veggie mixture is done, add broth/butter mixture.  Stir to ensure all the good pork bits are incorporated off the bottom of the skillet.  Next pour the broth/veggie mixture over the rice and pork chops.  Cover in tin foil and bake for 50-60 minutes or until the liquid is completely absorbed.