Ma’s Stewies

I know, I know… what the heck are stewies? Well they’re pork chops simmered till fork tender in stewed tomatoes. They were the only way besides Shake n’ Bake that I would eat a pork chop. And my Mom literally took the recipe to her grave.

Except she had a very observant daughter. Who really likes to recreate recipes. And this is it. This is THE MEAL I make for guests. Everytime I see my father. Pretty much any time I need a signature dish. This is the recipe I’m known for within the family. Albeit I didn’t create it as much as inherited it. But either way it’s good enough to be requested by my non pork chop, pea, or tomato eating husband.

Oh that’s the other thing. It must be served with buttered peas and mashed potatoes. Always. I mean you can change it if you must but in my house… there’s only one way this meal looks. Oh and the mash is also covered in the tomato gravy. Weird, I know. But so yummy once you try it.

Ok, so onto the tutorial. It’s dead easy too. Sear the pork chops on both sides. I like bone in but I don’t always get bone in pork chops. Use what you like. Pork steaks work great too. But since they’re usually larger I’d only recommend two pork steaks. Don’t worry about cooking them through initially. They’ll cook in the gravy over the next couple hours. Just get some color on them. I usually throw some salt and pepper on them before putting them in the pan but not always. I’m not sure it adds a ton but it’s the right thing to do with meat so I usually try to remember.

When you’ve got some color on them, maybe a total of 3 minutes later, add the minced garlic first and let it fry up just a moment before dumping in the rest of ingredients. Fill up half that empty can with water and add that too. Swirl those herbs and seasonings into the juices. Then just cover and simmer over low heat for around 2 hours or until the pork chops fall apart with a fork.

That’s it. If you have a well fitting lid you probably wont need any extra moisture as the cooking time goes by. I however do not have a well fitting lid to my cast iron skillet so about every half hour I check and usually add half a cup of water at a time. Don’t worry about diluting the flavor doing this since if it’s evaporating it’s also concentrating and can use some diluting out.

Don’t forget to serve with extra tomato gravy over both the pork and the mashed potatoes. And if you used bone in chops be sure to locate those bones and either pick them out or make sure they’re still attached to the meat a little because you really don’t want to find a bone in your mashed potato gravy. Not that I’ve ever served it that way. Expert here ya know?