Simply Delicious Pork Chops

I've seen a recipe a few times on YouTube shorts with pork chops that intrigued me.  It was the use of a Sour Cream and Onion dip that I wondered about.  Now you might know this but California Sour Cream and Onion dip is one of my favorites.  I make it with half the amount of onion soup mix just to reduce the saltiness.

In need of a meal this week, I decided to make the recipe I'd been seeing online.  I thought I'd try this recipe but it's so hot just now that I didn't want to turn on the oven at all. I didn't have room in the toaster oven for a pan to fit the size of my chops.  I decided to use the slow cooker and that evolved into tweaking the recipe a bit.

I opted to make this a one pot meal.  It was a huge hit with all four of my household members.  I'll definitely do this again and I'll likely keep it as a slow cooker meal.

Simply Delicious Pork Chops

4 1 inch thick well trimmed center cut pork chops (I used bone in)

1/2 packet instant onion soup mix

1 1/4- cups sour cream

4 medium potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1/2 of a medium onion, cut into slices

Seasoning of choice (I used a Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Spray slow cooker with non-stick spray.  Layer potatoes and onions in bottom of pan.  Place chops on top, then season with Steak seasoning (or your choice of seasoning).  Mix soup mix and sour cream.  Spread over top of chops and onto any exposed potatoes.  Put on lid and cook for 5 hours on High heat.  I find my own slow cooker is a bit fast so I lowered the temperature to Medium after about 4 hours.

Caleb ate every bite, Katie remarked on how good it was and John told me while the sides I'd served were good, the pork chop and potato dish was the real star.  I was very pleased with the way this turned out.

Skillet Mock Street Corn

 

I loved that this recipe was so simple and had so few ingredients.  It was a super tasty side to our spicy Crock-Pot Birria Tacos.  Super quick to prepare as well!

Skillet Mock Street Corn

2 15-ounce cans whole kernel corn, drained (or sub in 4 cups frozen)

2 tbsps. Butter

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

4 ounces cream cheese

1 tbsp. fresh cilantro or 1/4 cup diced green onion

Heat skillet.  Melt butter and add corn, stirring and heating for a few minutes then add in the lime juice and cream cheese.  Stir until well blended and heated through.  Toss with cilantro or green onion.

I'd think if you had cream cheese with chives on hand this would go as well with the corn and you could skip the cilantro or green onion entirely. 

Crock Pot Birria Tacos - A bit Spicy!

 

A couple of years ago, Katie made Birria tacos and brought me a sampling.  I thought it was pretty good, if a little too hot for my tastes.  Recently when we went out to the new Mexican restaurant, I tried their version.  It was far too mild.  Just call me Goldilocks, despite my brunette head, okay?

I decided to try my own hand at this dish, and I have to say after eating them tonight that I was well pleased.  I had everything I used on hand, as part of my usual pantry ingredients.    While I tend to avoid recipes with a load of ingredients, these are all necessary for the flavor profile.  I know I served this on the first day of August, but it would be a lovely warming dish to serve once the weather is cold.  

I will say that I think you're wise to taste test the chipotle in adobo sauce to see how warm it might be and then add accordingly.  I've recently learned that chipotle peppers are actually smoked jalapenos in a seasoned sauce.  And jalapenos can vary widely in heat index.  I've had chipotles that were just pleasantly smoky tasting and barely warm.  These were fairly hot, so I added five. I knew I wouldn't be adding the Guajillo peppers the recipe called for and I didn't want to compromise the taste of the sauce too much. The Consommé was still a bit spicy but in a very pleasant tongue and lip tingling way. 

You'll have chipotle peppers left over (and tomato paste too, most likely).  Just scoop the peppers and a bit of sauce into individual piles on a cookie sheet covered with parchment and freeze, then pop the puck into a baggie to save to use later in other dishes.  Or more Birria!

I'll share the link to the recipe that Katie forwarded to me and then I'll post the ingredients I myself used as the recipe.  

I liked the broth I teste so well that I sipped a cup of it yesterday after I'd finished cooking the roast, before blending the broth and other ingredients into the thick consommé we had today for dipping.  And yes, I did keep the beef and the broth in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating and serving as tonight's meal.  

Click on the title to go to the original recipe on Pinterest.  And read on for how I made it.

Crock Pot Birria Tacos

2-pound boneless chuck roast

2 tbsps. olive oil

salt and pepper

5-6 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce

1 small onion, sliced

8 smashed cloves garlic

32 ounces of water

14.5-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes 

4 tsps.  beef bouillon powder

3 bay leaves

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper the roast, then brown in a hot pan.  Now add all the other ingredients and cook on low heat for 8 hours.  It smells amazing as it's cooking.  

Remove meat and then blend the remaining sauces and ingredients in the pan. I allowed mine to cool completely, since I was serving it the next day.  If you are blending hot liquids, then please do it in small batches and follow all precautions.

The original recipe says to save the fat.  My roast was so lean that there was no fat on the broth at all.  There is a good reason for saving that savory fat though if you have it.  You'll want to heat the fat in a frying pan and use that to fry the corn tortillas for serving the tacos.  I can tell you this does add another layer of flavor to this dish.  

Shred beef.  Mix with 1-2 cups of the Birria Consommé, just enough to moisten it.  Heat and serve remaining Birria Consommé on the side for dipping.

This meat mixed with the blended sauce reheated extremely well the next day.  The consommé has a slight thickness to it once blended.  I didn't think we needed all of it for the meal, so I put 1.5 pints of it into the freezer.  I'm just going to reuse that next time I decide to make Birria Tacos.  I mean it's already fully seasoned...It would also make a great soup or chili base.

I served this on homemade flour tortillas with a side of a mock street corn (I'll share that recipe next) and a salad.  We topped the tacos with cheddar, diced green onion and Kate and I opted to have cilantro as well.  We both like the flavor of cilantro.  Caleb and John passed on that.