Karen MacInerney wrote:
> Last night, out of sheer laziness, I used a recipe of James Beard's
> that involved browning thick pork loin chops, then braising them in
> broth with some sliced onions for an hour. I've done it before with
> rather dry and jaw-exhausting results. Yesterday was no different:
> great flavor, dry and leathery texture.
>
> I've read that pork these days is less fatty than it used to be, and
> suspect that might be the culprit. I've considered larding them with
> bacon, but I think that would affect the flavor (not to mention my
> cholesterol count).
>
> Anyone have a braising tip they'd like to share? (Other than shooting
> the chops up with lard, that is.)

Yeah, the pork generally available in U.S. supermarkets today is a
real problem. I keep reading that the distribution of 'heirloom'
breeds and other sources of fattier pork is widening but haven't seen
much evidence of it.

And I'm still a big skeptic about brining. I resent that you should
have to do it in the first place, and I know that water, salt and sugar
just can't replace what is really missing, namely, marbled fat.

So what to do with those chops? For the Beard recipe, cut back a lot
on the amount of liquid and on the length of time you cook them. Try
for barely past pink.

Otherwise, I've had okay results with two other methods. One is to
bread them and bake them -- again until just barely done. The other is
to do them in a pan over low-medium heat *without* browning them on
high heat first. You can fry up some onions or mushrooms or both
separately and smother the chops, but basically cook them quite slowly.
The usual browning doesn't really seal in any juices and with this
pork it just dries out and toughens the surface. -aem