LOW & SLOW: Pork Chops with Caramelized Onion and Orange Gravy

With an afternoon of projects around the house, I had the opportunity to caramelize onions the real way: low and slow. I've combined onions with orange before when following a Giada recipe, and this version turned out great. There's just a hint of orange flavor without it being too powerful, and the thyme compliments the citrus flavor. The sweet and savory gravy kept the pork nice and moist. It was delicious on top of a little brown rice with sautéed swiss chard. So good and full of flavor!!

PORK CHOPS WITH CARAMELIZED ONION AND ORANGE GRAVY
recipe by Trish Garber
serves 2

Ingredients:
Caramelized Onion Mixture

• olive oil
• 1 thinly sliced medium/large sweet onion
• 1 thinly sliced leek
• 1 thinly sliced shallot
• ~1/4 c orange juice
• small palmful thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• water

Pork Chops

• 2 thick-cut boneless pork chops, salt and peppered
• 1 cup (or so) orange juice
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in dutch oven on medium heat. Sweat onion, leek, and shallot for 5-10 minutes with a little salt. Add thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Caramelize the onion mixture over low heat for about 2 hours, stirring and adding water throughout as needed. Sprinkle a little (not even a 1/4 of a teaspoon) baking soda over the onions to speed up the caramelizing process.  
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Take the onion mixture out of the dutch oven and reserve in a bowl. Pour in more olive oil to coat the bottom of the dutch oven and turn up the heat to medium-high. Sear the pork chops until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes on each side. 
4. Use orange juice to de-glaze the bottom of the dutch oven, making sure to scrape off all of the brown bits. Salt and pepper the gravy. Then add the onion mixture back in. Place the pork chops in the center of the dutch oven, spooning some of the onion gravy on top. Cover and bake until pork reaches 170 degrees internally-- approximately 25 minutes.