Crock Pot Pork Chops

I'm in love with my crock pot. It's mostly because I love anything where I can just dump a bunch of stuff into a pot and walk away from it, but it also provides me with the most succulent, tender meat I've ever had.

I used this recipe the other night (mostly courtesy of Alton Brown (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/slow-cooker-pepper-pork-chops-recipe/index.html), but I also added my own ingredients as well). It requires prep, but only about a half hour's worth, so it's pretty easy.

The night before, create a briny marinade. I used thinly sliced pork chops since they cook faster, but I think any would work.

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup molasses
2 quarts of water
2 cloves of sliced garlic
1 bay leaf

Fill a 3 quart sauce pan 2/3 of the way full. Add the sugar, salt and molasses to the pan and cook just until the mixture boils. Allow the brine to cool completely, and then transfer the brine to a gallon ziploc bag. Add the garlic and bay leaf.

Rinse 6 thinly slice pork chops (4 if you're using pork chops between 1 and 1 1/2 inches) and add to the bag. Make sure the pork chops are submerged in the brine and let sit in the fridge overnight.

The next day, prepare the following ingredients:

3 ounces (about a half of a Martinelli's bag) of dried apples
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves ( I like most of my food super garlicky)
1 large onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon coaresly ground black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme

1. Line the bottom of the crock pot with the dried apples.
2. Heat a 12 inch saute pan with olive oil. Saute the pork chops until both sides are golden brown. Put the pork chops in the crock pot on top of the apples.
3. Put about 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in the pan, and then add the garlic. Cook for a couple minutes and then add the onions, cooking for an additional 3 minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Add the chicken broth to deglaze, and then the pepper and thyme. Stir to combine.  Add the mixture to the crock pot.

Set the crock pot to high for an hour if using thin-cut pork chops, or an hour and a half if using regular pork chops. After the hour and a half, set to low for 4 hours. (Mine only took about an 3 hours). The meat should fall away from the bone.


I served these with potato and portabello au gratin, and a green salad. It was the perfect sunday meal.