OH SO TENDER BAKED LEMON PORK CHOPS

 

Ingredients

 

3 regular sized pork chops

juice from half a lemon

1 tbsp. freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

dried oregano

chopped fresh basil

1/4 cup salted butter

 

I am very particular with the way meat is cooked particularly pork.

Here in my area, you can find pork chops sold anywhere and most of us think that if it's seasoned well, that would be enough. It should not be just that, the meat itself has to cooked perfectly - brown and caramelized outside while tender and juicy inside. Most eateries here, cook the pork chops fried, with a lot of oil.

Pork has a tendency to get overcooked fast if not thick enough and kept in the skillet for more than the needed time. Don't fry the pork, sear it. Put just a little amount of oil, enough for the meat not to stick to the pan (if you don't have a cast iron, copper, or ceramic skillet). And make sure you time it perfectly not to leave it dry.

Well, if you have no patience to sear the pork perfectly, the best solution is to bake it.

For this recipe, get your chops marinated with the lemon juice, salt and pepper the night before you plan to cook it. Put it back in the fridge but out of the freezer.

On the day of cooking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your baking dish or tray with quality foil long enough to fold the foil back to cover the chops when prep is done. Make sure that the foil does not have a weird smell (the smell may sometimes indicate the presence of toxic materials).

Place your pork chops on the foil, making sure each is evenly distributed for even cooking in the oven.

Season each chop with the dried oregano and fresh basil.

For the finishing touch, equally distribute the butter on all the chops like in the picture. Now cover the chops completely with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

After the half an hour passes, keep the oven on but open the foil allowing the top part of the chops to be exposed and leave in the oven for another 10 minutes or until the meat is brown.

Serve with a side of vegetable salad or buttered steamed vegetables.

Enjoy!