Gingered Pork Chops in Orange Juice

I got pork chops on sale and froze most of them, but had a couple saved out.  I was not sure what to do with them, so I went to trusty http://www.allrecipes.com/ to search for a recipe, and found this one.  The pictures were not promising, but after reading the recipe, my mouth was watering.  I made the recipe as written, just in a half batch.  I will give the recipe for a complete batch.  The sauce was a little thin, so next time I will make the sauce into gravy after it comes out of the oven.

Ingredients:
- 1/4 c. flour
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 c. olive oil
- 4 thick cut pork chops
- 1 onion, thinly sliced (I already had a bag of cut onions)
- 1 Tbsp brandy (I don't have brandy right now, so I used whiskey...which was great.  Cooking wine or just water will do if you don't carry drinking alcohol.)
- 1 1/2 c. orange juice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Then mix the flour, ginger, salt, and pepper in a ziploc bag or container.  Put in the chops and shake to coat.

Pour the olive oil into a good skillet and set to med-hi.  Make sure the oil is good and hot (but not smoking) before you add the chops.  We are just going to brown the chops, not cook them, and get a good sear on the outside.

Once the first size is browned, turn and finish the other side.

Mmm, it's looking good!

Once the chops are browned, place them into a glass baking dish (I happened to use a pie plate because it was the right size.  For 4 chops, an 8"x8" pan will work great.)  Keep the burner on, because now we are going to add the onions to the oil.

Keep the onions moving, you don't want them to brown, just caramalize, once they are ready (for your own tastes), add the brandy (or whiskey, or wine, or water), to get all the good flavor bits from around the pan.  Pour the onions over the chops and top with orange juice.

Now we are getting close!  Just cover with foil, and bake for 45 minutes, or until no longer pink in the center.  If you are using thinner chops, the cooking time will be shorter.  This is a really easy recipe, and so scrumtious.  I cooked mine for 45 minutes and it was perfect.

Three of us were sharing the 2 chops, and I portioned off a third of each chop before I took the picture...that's the only reason it looks smaller.  ENJOY!  If you like (and I will do this next time), you can strain off the liquids and make them into gravy, using flour and/or corn starch.  If you need help doing this, just let me know and I will help you.

Happy Eating!