Obie Greens Smothered Pork Chops Recipes

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• For the ham hock gravy: Combine the ham hocks, corn and ice water in a pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 1/2 hours. Add the celery, carrots and onions, and cook for another 30 minutes.
• Strain the stock, reserving the ham hocks. When cool enough to handle, pick the meat off of the ham hocks.
• In a 4-quart pot, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook the roux for 2 minutes, then stir in 2 quarts of the ham hock broth, followed by half of the picked ham hock meat. Simmer the gravy for 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Reserve 8 cups of the ham hock broth and half of the picked ham hock meat for the collard greens.)
• For the collard greens: Melt the butter in a large pot. Add the onions and garlic, and saute for 3 to 4 minutes to sweat the onions. Add the chile flakes and saute 1 minute. Add the collard greens and ham hock meat, and stir to wilt the collards. Add the cider vinegar, apple juice and 8 cups of the ham hock broth. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot, and simmer until the greens are tender, 1 hour. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the roasted sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Toss the diced sweet potatoes in a bowl with the grapeseed oil, salt and pepper.
• Spread the sweet potatoes out on a baking sheet and roast in the oven until tender and browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Transfer the sweet potatoes to a saute pan. Add the molasses, chili powder and cayenne. Saute over high heat, tossing to coat the sweet potatoes. Season with salt and pepper.
• For the pork chops: Preheat a grill or grill pan to high.
• Sprinkle the pork chops with the salt and pepper. Grill until cooked through and nicely marked, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove the chops from the grill and plate immediately.
• For plating: Divide the sweet potatoes between six plates. Using a slotted spoon, strain the collard greens and plate them next to the sweet potatoes. Shingle the pork chops over one side of the sides. Smother with ham hock gravy. Serve.

OBIE'S SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
• Rinse chops, then pat them dry. Sprinkle with spices mentioned above. Then dredge into pancake mix.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the chops into the skillet. Brown the chops on both sides. Remove from the skillet and place in a roasting pan.
• In the skillet, now saute the onions and mushrooms with the salt, pepper and sugar until slightly browned.
• Stir in the flour until absorbed. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly, until the gravy thickens and boils.
• Place chops in the pan; cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour and twenty minutes; the chops and gravy should be a rich golden brown.
• Place chops on a serving platter; either place gravy on top, or strain through sieve and put gravy in a gravy boat; skim fat off top and serve.

OBIE GREEN'S SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS

Steps:

• Wipe chops with paper towels to dry off; sprinkle with 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp white pepper; coat with pancake mix. Heat oil in large skillet; brown chops on both sides and place in casserole. I use a large lasagna pan, so that there's plenty of room for the gravy not to spill over) Saute/fry onions with remaining salt, pepper and sugar in same skillet, till lightly browned. Stir in flour; cook for at least 1 - 2 minutes to cook the flour taste out. Gradually add in boiling water while stirring with a whisk. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, till thickened and boils. Pour over chops and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 1 hour 20 min. Remove chops to serving platter; keep hot. Strain gravy through a sieve, pressing onions with a spoon. (I skip this part bcuz I love the onion pieces in the gravy) Skim fat from gravy if necessary. Serve mashed potatoes and the gravy with chops. Yummo!
• Obie Green is the owner of a popular New York City Soul Food Restaurant.
• Note: I have tried making these in a slow cooker, and find you have to zig zag stack them and they have a tendency to fall apart...I like keeping them in a single layer,so they don't break up so much. If you are just cooking for two, and can put them in a single layer, that may work better. But personally, I love leftovers of this dish, and make alot of these yummy pork chops and mashies so we can have reruns. hehe

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS WITH COLLARD GREENS

Steps:

• Season each chop with salt and pepper, then dust with flour. Heat a cast iron skillet just large enough to hold the pork over a medium heat. Add the reserved pork fat and brown the pork chop well-approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove the chops from the pan and set aside. If the pan is dry, add another tablespoon of fat. Add the onions and peppers. Increase the heat to medium high in order to brown the vegetables well. Sprinkle flour over the vegetables and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove pan from the flame and stir in the hot hock stock until thickened and smooth. Bury the pork chops in the gravy. Cover the skillet and place in a 300 degree oven. Cook 2 hours, or until pork is very tender;
• Collard Greens: Place hock stock in a large sauce pot over a medium high heat. Bring hock stock to a rapid simmer. Pack collards into the stock with the onion and jalapeno. Simmer 2 hours. Season to taste with salt, pepper and malt vinegar.;
• Ham hock stock: Place ham hocks in a stock pot large enough to hold the hocks, leaving 6 inches of free space at the top of the pot. Pour enough cold water over the hocks to cover by 3 inches. Bring to a rapid simmer over a medium high heat. A thick foam will build on the top of the stock. Carefully remove all of the foam. Reduce heat to low and simmer 6 hours. Constantly skim the clear fat that builds at the top of the stock. Reserve the fat for cooking.