Two beautifully seasoned and cooked Pork chops on a black plate with cooked garlic cloves and herbs.
The BEST Classic Pork Chop
This is a bone in center cut tenderloin pork chop recipe. These are thin chops cut about 1/2″ to 5/8″ inch thick, seasoned and pan fried with bacon grease, butter, fresh herbs and cloves of garlic. It’s a quick recipe, cooked with a room temperature chop in under 7 minutes. The flavor is incredible and it is, hands down, my favorite way to cook pork chops.
A package of four, un-cooked, center cut pork tenderloin steaks.4 unwrapped, raw, center cut pork tenderloin steaks2 fully cooked pork chops on a black plate with cooked Garlic, Rosemary and Thyme.
How to cook Pan Fried Pork Chops video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Hot Pan, Medium High Heat #5 Setting on my stove. Grease in, Garlic & Herbs in, chops in bones in the middle. Cook 3 minutes then flip. Add Butter, cook another 3 min. Spoon the butter over the chops then sear the fat sides. Add the chops back to the skillet, spoon the butter once more and remove the herbs.
One thing I think we can all agree with, we love tacos and this Carnitas recipe is no exception. If you don’t know what that means, I’m talking about tender yet crispy thin pieces of pork meat that have been cooked to perfection. Some of the busiest cities in Mexico and in the United States have street vendors cranking out these little gems like they’re going out of style. Folks can’t get enough and I’m going to show you how to do it better than any other online recipe.
Raw bone in pork shoulder roast with the skin.
Misconceptions about Carnitas
The very definition of the Latin word, “Carnitas” translates as braised or roasted pork served shredded in small pieces. Some people seem to think that means that the meat should be cut into small portions before cooking it. Nonsense. It’s the final product that needs to be chopped up. Some of the most famous cookeries in Mexico braise all of the meat in large portions. The only reason to cut the pork into small pieces would be to fit in your pot, if your home pot isn’t big enough. Also, you won’t be needing any additional lard to cook this recipe because this pork shoulder is marinated first, then baked and roasted in it’s own rendered fat.
Carnitas marinade.
Carnitas Marinade
As I already mentioned, Carnitas is braised or Roasted pork. In Mexico and most online recipes, the pork is cooked in large amounts of lard first, then all of the other ingredients are added half way through or more towards the end of the cooking. Marinating the meat first, then baking with the slow and low method, accomplishes several things; it flavors, tenderizes and allows you to free up your time instead of baby sitting the stove for several ours. If I want tacos for lunch, I get this started the night before and it cooks itself until I get up the next day. Not to mention, this process cooks the meat perfectly and I prove that in the video tutorial down below.
Fully Cooked Carnitas for tacos and burritos.
Carnitas Final Steps
This Carnitas recipe will roast for 12 hours in the oven but it’s not finished yet. Although you can achieve the tenderness from the slow and low method, you’re still going to want to add some more flavor and a bit of crispiness to the meat. This can be done by adding the final ingredients, orange juice, coca-cola, bay leaves and cranking the oven up several notch’s. After you add those ingredients you want to bake the pork with the lid off for another hour. Set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, cut spin and rotate the meat before and every half hour to reach its full potential. You’ll understand better, once you watch my tutorial.
1/4 cup Garlic Infused Oil 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp Black Pepper 1 tbsp Oregano 1 tbsp Cumin 2 tbsp Chipotle Pepper in Adobo Sauce 2 tbsp Sweetened condensed milk 1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 cup Orange Juice 1/2 cup Coca Cola 2 Bay Leaves 1 Onion
Bake at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 hours. Cut pork into Pieces. Add Orange Juice, Cola and Bay Leaves to the rendered fat and cut pieces of meat. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, with the lid off for 30 minutes. Stir the mixture and bake for 30 more minutes, then remove from oven and shred.
I really just can’t say enough about this Pork Chili Verde recipe. But first off, just know that you don’t have to add the pork if you’re just wanting the Chili Verde. This recipe is good to go either way and it’s as good as it gets. If you don’t know by now, I’m a man of my word and I don’t post recipes unless they are the best of the best. So be rest assured that this recipe, like the many before this one, is a winner.
You’re going to need a Good Green Enchilada Sauce to make this and I’ve included my recipe for that below, but you can always use a can if you’re feeling lazy or if you just don’t want it to taste amazing. Also know that you can control the heat by adding or taking away the Jalapeno in this recipe all together. But I feel like one pepper along with the Anaheim’s is a great balance of heat. Even my kids were eating this without complaints and I felt like it had plenty of kick. We ate it till it was gone. So give this a try and let me know what you think!
2 1/2 lbs Carnitas(Pork), 1″ pieces
1 Onion, chopped
1 Anaheim Chili Pepper, chopped
Olive Oil for cooking
1 cup Vegetable Broth
season everything with Salt and Pepper
Enchilada Sauce
3 Anaheim Peppers
8 Tomatillo Tomatoes
2 Green Onions
1 Jalapeno (optional)
Chicken Broth, just enough to cover veggies
2 Garlic Cloves
1 tbsp Cumin
1 tsp Mexican Oregano
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Follow the instructions in the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Pork Chile Verde.
