Smothered food is soul food and there are a lot of different kinds of smothered dishes. We’ve probably all had smothered steak and one point or another, but even shrimp etouffee is considered a smothered food.
There’s a girl I follow who made fried smothered ribs one day and that’s something I had never heard of. Neither frying them nor smothering them. She doesn’t give recipes or measurements, but I found another one.
And why should you listen to an old white dude talking about soul food? Don’t worry, you aren’t. I found all of these recipes on black-operated websites. And here we go.
4 bone-in pork chops (about 2.5 lbs) kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp smoked paprika 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 4 tbsp unsalted butter 2 tbsp olive oil 1 medium-sized white onion, cut and sliced into half moons 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced 2 tsp fresh thyme 2 cups chicken stock or broth 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream Use a paper towel to pat dry the pork chops on both sides. Season the chops with salt/pepper to taste, along with the garlic powder and smoked paprika on all sides. Use your hands to massage the spices into the chops.
Add the flour into a shallow dish. Dip each pork chop into the flour, coating well on all sides, and then shake off excess flour. Don’t discard the remaining flour, set aside.
In a large non-stick skillet (at least 10-inches or larger), heat the butter/olive oil over medium heat.
Once the mixture sizzles, gently swirl the skillet to evenly coat the bottom, add the pork chops into the skillet. Careful not to overcrowd the pan, depending on the size of your chops, you may have to cook them in batches. Cook the pork chops for about 4-5 minutes on each side, or until a nice brown sear/crust appears.
Add the onions into the skillet and sauté, stirring often. Allow the onions to break down and caramelize until they reach a deeply golden- brown color, about 8-10 minutes. Then add in the garlic and continue stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Take 2 tablespoons of the reserved flour and sprinkle it into the skillet. Stir the flour into the onion mixture until all the flour begins to dissolve. The flour should absorb most, if not all, of any butter/ oil left in the skillet- making sure that all the flour has fully dissolved.
Sprinkle in the fresh thyme and stir together once more. Pour in the stock and use a wooden utensil to stir the stock into the mixture, scraping up any bits on the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking until the mixture starts to thicken some, about 2 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream to bring the gravy together and allow the mixture to come up to a simmer. Then taste the gravy and adjust it to your preference by adding more salt/pepper, as desired.
Add in the pork chops along with any residual juices and spoon the gravy over them. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the chops simmer in the gravy to finish off, about 10-15 minutes more. The gravy will thicken nicely, take on a deeper color, and meld with the pork chops.
Then remove from heat and let the dish cool for 5 minutes. Serve the smothered pork chops immediately alongside your favorite sides like mashed potatoes, rice or veggies. —kwc— In this recipe you can coat the ribs in flour like the pork chops and fry in oil. This recipe skips that step and it’s done in a crockpot.
Smothered Fried Ribs
3 lbs pork or beef ribs membrane removed 2 tsp kosher salt 2 tsp black pepper 2 tsp thyme leaves 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup all-purpose flour 36 ounces chicken broth or water 1 large onion, minced 3 cloves garlic minced Cut the ribs into pieces between each bone.
Season the ribs with the kosher salt, pepper, and thyme.
Place the ribs in the slow cooker.
Add 1/4 cup of oil in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Once the oil gets hot, slowly start sprinkling in the flour while whisking.
Once the flour/oil mixture starts to brown, add in the chicken broth or water.
Whisk, then bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to low, then add in the onions & garlic.
Decide whether or not you’d like to add more seasonings. If you do, do so now.
Whisk, then pour the gravy over the ribs in the Crock-Pot.
Place the lid on the Crock-Pot.
Set on high, and let cook for 4 hours.
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