Spanish Pork Chops

Over the years I've collected so many good reads and one of these little nuggets of knowledge I’ve found is an extremely unique cook book written by Meta Givens in the 1940's. There were so many creative, interesting, and sometimes, slightly strange recipes in this book. I felt that it would be a great project for myself, publicizing these long-lost recipes and making some of them my own.

The first step should always be our ingredients list. Personally, I am the type of cook that grabs everything before I start so I don’t go unprepared. I intend to make this recipe a little more personalized, because I do love this recipe. I cannot wait to try it out so lets get started!

You will Need:

5 Thick Pork Chops

1 Tablespoon of Butter

1 Onion, Sliced

1 Green Bell Pepper. Sliced

1 Stalk of Celery (as much as you like)

Garlic (as much as you would like)

2 Cups of canned tomatoes

Salt (as needed)

Pepper (as needed, if you like pepper)

2 tablespoons of flour

3-4 cups of boiled Rice

In order to begin, you will want to take your pork chops and cook them somewhat with the butter. You should cook them completely through but keep in mind, they will be going back into the skillet. Make sure you do not overcook them. The butter was put in as fat in the original recipe but I do feel like honestly, now it is easier to find butter versus fat in your normal grocery store. From what I’ve read they can most likely be substituted without changing measurements. A majority of the people I know have their own unique way of cooking so, do it as you would prefer. Just keep in mind, they will be going back into your skillet. Now your pan is probably covered in so much grease from all the pork chop fat, so take your trinity (onions, bell pepper, celery depending on what type of garlic your using you can add that too but time it right.) and cook that down in the grease you already have. I would use these but whatever you have or normally use is also fine.

Then we have what I think is the fun part, adding in your tomatoes and seasonings. Use the can of tomatoes, but get creative with your sauce. Use whatever Mexican style seasonings you can. Use a can of Rotel if you want to, make it spicy and funky if you can stomach it.

Then after you get your sauce together, add the pork chops back into the skillet and simmer it down. Do that for about 30-40 minutes. After you are done simmering, it’s time to thicken the sauce.

You are going to want to take out your pork chops now. Take ¼ Cups of water and mix that with your flour. Now you have a nice flour slurry. Mix that slurry into your tomato sauce mix (which will thicken it to a pasty mixture). You’re going to want to boil it for about 2-3 minutes, stirring it constantly, until it thickens. After you get all of that nice and mixed, turn off your stove!

You can arrange your meal on a nice little platter with the rice in the middle, pork chops in a circle, and pour your sauce over the chops. Or you can serve it as you see fit. NO one is judging you.

I apologize for altering the recipe that Meta Givens passed down, but I’m from south Louisiana and I season my food differently.