Pork Chops in Mushroom Soup (Aka Pork Chop Dinner)

A simple weeknight dinner that my parents prepared often when I was a child. I make this every couple of weeks for my DH and his kids and it always goes down without a fuss. Although I don't usually condone the use of convenience foods, I cannot deny the importance of having ingredients for this on hand as a quick meal on a busy night or a comfort food meal when you need a hefty dose of nostalgia.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1  tablespoon  vegetable oil
• 1  medium onion, diced 1/4-inch
• 2  garlic cloves, minced or crushed
• 4  pork chops (boneless loin chops work best)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans  Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
• 4  medium potatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1  tablespoon dried parsley
•  salt and pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) can mushroom stems and pieces, drained well (optional) or 2  pieces dried porcini mushrooms (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large, deep skillet and add onion. Sweat onion over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and continue cooking over medium heat until fragrant.
2. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper and add to the skillet, browning them over medium high heat. Flip the chops to brown both sides. The meat should be golden brown on both sides but does not have to be cooked through.
3. Meanwhile, stir together the two cans of soup, parsley and canned mushrooms/dried mushrooms (if using).
4. Place the potato slices into the skillet around, between and atop the chops and pour over the soup mixture. Use a spoon or spatula to gently stir the contents of the skillet to distribute the sauce over all the potatoes and meat. Be sure to scrape up the golden brown bits (fond) from the bottom of the pan and stir them into the sauce.
5. Simmer over medium heat approximately 30-40 minutes or until the potato slices are cooked through (tender), stirring gently at least twice through the cooking time.
6. Note: If your family likes strong mushroom flavours then I highly recommend the use of dried mushrooms in this dish. If your family is not so keen on mushrooms then leave out the canned and dried mushrooms. The sauce will still have a strong cream-gravy, especially if you fried the chops to a golden colour and scraped the bottom of the pan to rescue those flavours. This recipe holds up well to experimentation with dried spices and other add-ins. Try adding dried pakprika (sweet), chives, thyme, sage, applewood smoke seasoning, a few spoonfuls of sour cream or a handful of homemade bacon bits for variation.