Pork Chops with Buttermilk Gravy

I haven’t had a pork chop since I was a little girl.  For years I thought I was allergic to pork, until my friend Elise suggested I try organic pork.  Sure enough, no headache, nausea, or ugly rash!  Apparently some hormone or antibiotic used in pork is what causes my allergic reaction.  So just in the past 6 months have a started buying pork to cook with. This is my first time making pork chops and OH BABY!  I was moaning with pleasure with every bite.  I don’t know how I went so long without eating these!

A market near my parents has a little freezer in back with meat and seafood about 80% off.  I got 2 large boneless porkchops for $4!  I cut them in half, and half a pork chop was plenty of meat for a serving.  I wanted to coat the pork chops in buttermilk and then in a flour and spice mixture.  I don’t buy buttermilk, I just make it with vinegar and milk.  This time I added a little heavy cream too so it was really thick.

This is an easy pork recipe to make.  It took me less than 15 minutes, so I’ll definitely keep it in mind for future nights when I’m pressed for time.  I wouldn’t recommend eating like this all the time as it is breaded fried meat.  But pork is a pretty healthy meat.  It actually contains fewer calories than chicken!  This pairs great with a cooked vegetable and a potato dish or rice.

Pork Chops with Buttermilk Gravy

Ingredients

2 large boneless pork chops cut in half
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup flour
1 TBS onion powder
1 TBS garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup chicken broth

Instructions

Coat porkchops in buttermilk.  Mix flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in a quart ziploc bag.  Place buttermilk coated pork chops one at a time into the ziploc bag and shake it up to coat well in flour mixture.  Reserve buttermilk and flour mixture.

Heat oil in a non stick skillet on medium high.  Using tongs, place pork chops in oil and cook 3 minutes on each side until browned.  Remove chops to a clean plate.

Mix 2 TBS of the flour mixture into the pan drippings.  Stir well with a whisk.  Add buttermilk and chicken broth, mix well.  Simmer a couple minutes to thicken, then return pork chops to the pan.

Cook 5 minutes on medium.  Serve pork chops with small amount of gravy poured over the top.

Approximate cost/serving: It worked out to only $1 dollar a porkchop, check your local meat market or grocer for meat close to its expiration at a discount.  You can always freeze it to use later.  The total cost was $2.70 to make, so only $1.35 a serving!

Gluten Free: For gluten free use a gluten free flour, I think cornstarch could work great.  Or rice flour as well.