Baked Lemonade Pork Chops revisited

Smashing Success

This recipe is divine!  I am hesitant to cook meat or even touch it, but my parents love pork chops so I thought what can I do besides a box of shake and bake. (not knocking shake and bake b/c that stuff is good) I went to my lovely Food Network website, typed in pork chops and voila tons of options to chose from!!

Some changes:
I will say that I did not have soy sauce in my house but it was still delic. I had made fresh lemonade the day before so I had fresh lemonade..but I also had cooked my lemonade with a dash or so of whiskey so that may have impacted the final flavor...I also did not have flour, so I used corn meal for my dredge.

Sides & Dessert:
I served mashed potatoes and green beans to complete the meal. (I will post how I prepared/cooked green beans and mashed potatoes on another post/day). For dessert we had a chocolate chip cookie brownie. (full disclosure the brownie was from a box mix).

Not mine..but close in appearance for the glaze..via here

I have told several people about how much we liked this recipe and have received requests for it, so I posted the entire recipe below...or you can find it on Food Network here.

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 5 cups lemonade (reconstituted, not concentrate) If you make your own fresh lemonade, by all means use it!

• 1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup

• 1/2 cup soy sauce

• 1/2 cup cider vinegar

• 1/2 cup (1/4 pound) brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 2 teaspoons each granulated garlic, onion powder, ground ginger

• 2 tablespoons each paprika, chili powder

• 2 tablespoons each fresh finely chopped thyme leaves, oregano leaves, sweet basil leaves, if using dried herbs use 2 teaspoons of each

Pork chops:

• 8 (6 to 8-ounce) center cut pork chops (trimmed somewhat lean to avoid excess grease in baking pan)

• All-purpose flour lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, (enough to coat chops)

Directions

• Pour the sauce over the chops and cover the baking pan with heavy aluminum foil.

• Good served with either mashed potatoes or rice, depending on preference.

• This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

• Prep Time 30 minutes

In a large bowl or pitcher mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Pork chops:

Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add enough cooking oil to coat the bottom. Dredge the pork chops in the seasoned flour and brown for approximately 2 minutes per side in the skillet. Transfer the chops to a baking pan. Fan the chops so that each chop is exposed as much as possible.

Bake until the chops are tender about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Transfer the chops to a serving platter and serve.

Helpful Tips:

For less clean up; Use a resealable plastic bag to coat the chops with flour, but don't shake off too much excess, as the flour will aid in the "glazing" of the chops while they bake.

Use a large enough baking pan to allow for the chops to be exposed as much as possible; while still small enough for the sauce to mostly cover the chops.

If sauce seems very thin towards the end of baking, remove the foil to help reduce the liquid and reach the desired consistency of the sauce. It won't be real thick but should have some "cling" to the chops.