Cast Iron Pork Chops

Thank you to Kansas Farm Bureau and Kansas Soybean Commission for sponsoring this post. #Ad #FarmFoodTour

Tender and juicy Cast Iron Pork Chops with sauteed mushrooms and an apricot cream sauce are easy to make.A few weeks back I spent the week with a great group of food blogger ladies in Kansas for the Farm Food Tour. Having grown up on a small farm in Connecticut, I was jumped at the chance to see larger farms in operation in Kansas. It was an amazing opportunity to see a variety of Kansas farms in action, everything from small to large.

Our first stop on the tour was at Good Farms, Olsburg, Kansas is a farm raising heritage breeds of hogs, specializing in Durocs and Gloucestershire Old Spots. They also raise soybeans, corn, and Angus cattle. Craig and Amy Good are absolutely adorable couple and have been raising hogs since early 1980’s. Heritage hogs produce a much different quality of meat than traditional, commercially raised pork, which is many times a cross-breed hog. Pork from their farm is raised mostly for Heritage Foods and eaten in some of the finest restaurants in the Country.

Our lunch on the farm included a salad with heirloom Beefsteak tomatoes, field greens, blue cheese, balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Spotted Gloucestershire pork tenderloin, braised pork shank, dark beer sauce, Spaetzle, and farm-grown green beans. Homemade apple crisp with a small dollop of vanilla ice cream finished off this outstanding meal! (all prepared by Little Apple Brewing Company, Manhattan, Kansas)

Did you know there are over 61,000 family-farms in Kansas? They raise a wide-variety of crops and livestock, including soybeans, hard red winter wheat, sunflowers, grain sorghum or Milo, corn, hogs, and beef cows.

Sawyer Land & Cattle Farm, McPherson, Kansas was harvesting corn the day we visited. This corn will feed cattle. After the corn is harvested, temporary fence will be put up and cattle will be brought to this field to graze on the remnants.

France Farms, Marienthal, Kansas grow field crops, including sorghum, soybeans, wheat, corn, and in addition raise Black Angus cattle. They also raise free-range chickens and have a pumpkin patch.

Reeve Cattle Company, Garden City, Kansas is a modern feed yard operation. Did you know that all cattle are grass fed? At least initially. The difference is all in the finishing process, where most cattle are finished with grain for four to six months before processing.

Matt from Dalebanks Angus, Eureka, Kansas explains to us how ranchers care for native prairie and how they have done so for multiple generations. He also explained how ranchers and farmers do not use antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. If an animal does receive antibiotics, there is a withdrawal period before that animal can be harvested for meat.

With dairy farms, like Forget-Me-Not-Farms, in Cimarron, Kansas, milk from a cow on antibiotics never comes in contact with milk of cows not on antibiotics. It’s illegal for any trace of antibiotics to be in the food or dairy we consume. Which is why the USDA regularly checks farms. Their meticulously maintained farm milks nearly 9,000 cows, two to three times a day. They fill roughly ten milk tankers a day.

Over 1,400 miles through Kansas, many farms, and a wide-variety of farms, our tour ended at Juniper Hill Farms, in Lawrence, Kansas at Scott Thellman’s family-farm where they grow a variety of organic vegetables, hay, and some row crops. Scott is a first-generation farmer.

Interesting farm tour facts:

Most family farms have one spouse working off the farm to help provide a steady income and health insurance. Farm work is hard, backbreaking work. But they continue the farming tradition because they love it and feel an obligation to feed the world, in addition to many other reasons.

Many farms rely on crop insurance to help cover unexpected expenses of damage to their crops.

Whether to grow GMO or non-GMO plants? Each farm determines what is best for their land and farms. There is a reason behind each of their decisions. Same applies with organic or non-organic crops. Did you know that it costs farms huge fees to become certified organic? And many just do not have the funds.

Some farms till the soil of fields and others do not. It is all dependent on the climate, types of weeds, soil conditions, etc.

I was inspired from our Kansas Farm Bureau tour to create a pork recipe that you would love! I hope you’ll give this recipes a try!

How to cook Cast Iron Pork Chops:

Step 1: Dry the pork chops with paper towels. Sprinkle with brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard, salt, and black pepper.

Step 2: In a large cast iron skillet, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. You’ll want the pan very hot, almost smoking before adding in the pork chops.

Step 3: Brown the pork chops on each side. Use tongs to flip them. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a half sheet pan with aluminum foil. Work in batches until all of the pork chops are browned. Place the pork chops on the prepared sheet pan and place in the oven to continue cooking while you finish the remaining steps.

Step 4: Add a few tablespoons additional butter to the hot skillet if more fat is needed. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir with a wooden spoon until browned, about 5-7 minutes. Once the mushrooms are browned, deglaze the pan with white wine and push the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet with the wooden spoon.

Step 5: Dissolve the cornstarch in the warm water and stir with a spoon. Add the cornstarch mixture to the mushroom and wine mixture and continue to stir as it thickens. Stir in the heavy cream and apricot preserves. Let the mixture come to a simmer and thicken, then lower the heat if needed. Stir to dissolve the apricot preserves. Season again with salt and black pepper if needed. Use a small spoon to taste.

Step 6: Finish cooking the pork chops in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. Place the cooked pork chops into the mushroom apricot sauce and let them rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

If you’re looking for a Lodge Cast Iron skillet, you can order one here!

More Cast Iron Recipes:

Cast Iron Pork Tenderloin

Cast Iron Chicken Fajitas

Cast Iron Cinnamon Rolls

Cast Iron Peach Pie

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