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Smothered Pork Chops

Smothered pork chops cooked with tomatoes, onions, and flour coating, baked in the oven.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,633 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Smothered Pork Chops

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Wash, scald, and peel the tomatoes.

  2. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

  3. In a stewpan, combine the tomatoes, finely chopped onions, and salt.

  4. Cook for 20 minutes.

Brown and braise the chops

  1. Trim excess fat from the pork chops.

  2. Melt the fat in a hot frying pan.

  3. Roll the chops in flour.

  4. Season the chops with salt and pepper.

  5. Brown the chops quickly in the hot fat.

  6. Add ¼ cup water.

  7. Cover tightly.

  8. Place the chops in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15 minutes.

  9. Remove the chops.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the tomatoes to the frying pan.

  2. Cook for 3 minutes.

  3. Pour the tomato mixture over the chops.

  4. Serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + porktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together32,460 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Tomato + flourtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Form the sauce that the chops are served in, adding moisture and acidity.
Pork chops
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender during covered cooking.
Flour
Coats the chops so they brown well and help thicken the pan juices.
Green onions
Add mild onion flavor and aroma to the tomato sauce.

The step that matters

Browning the chops quickly in hot fat. A hot pan and flour coating create a browned crust that adds flavor and color. If the pan is not hot enough, the chops steam and turn pale and grey.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, flour):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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