Pork Chop Hot Dish (Casserole)

I am laughing at myself for titling this post "Hot Dish" because while I was walking and talking during my recent 5K, the woman I was walking with asked if I was from Minnesota because of my "accent".  "No," I replied, "but I guess that comes from going to a Lutheran church!"  Lutherans and Minnesotans (who also happen to be primarily Lutheran) call "hot dish" what the rest of the country calls "casserole".  Since I feel very Lutheran every time I make casserole, I am now going to call it "hot dish".  This was a good, stick to your ribs kind of meal that you can just throw in the oven.  Definitely not French, but it could be with portion control.  It was still comforting on a blustery night at any rate!  I burnt it a little, so learn from me and finish it either in the oven, or let the heat of the dish finish it.  Don't finish it under the broiler!

Pork Chop Hot Dish by Joie de vivre

6 boneless pork chops

1 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp. black pepper

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided

1 (2.8) oz. can french-fried onions, divided

1 (24-26oz.) package frozen, shredded hash browns

1/2 tsp. seasoned salt

Yield:  6 servings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Brown both sides of the pork chops.  Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the soup, milk, sour cream, pepper, 1/2 cup shredded cheddar chees, 1/2 can french-fried onions and stir until combined.  Add the package of hash browns and stir until coated.  Spoon hash brown mixture into a greased 9 1/2 by 11 inch baking dish.  Arrange browned pork chops on top, sprinkle with season salt, cover with foil, and place in oven for 45 minutes.  Uncover dish and broil until hash brown mixture is bubbly and slightly browned.  Remove from oven, sprinkle with remaining cheese and hash browns.  Either let cheese melt from the heat of the dish, or place dish back in oven for 5 minutes (make sure broiler is off or onions will burn!)

What is the deal?

In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that not all of my kitchen endeavors are successes.  Just last night, I had one of those flops that I'll remember (and steer clear of) for years to come.  Ham hock terrine.  Just the name of it makes me want to retch a little (as eating it wanted to make do last night).  

A terrine, is basically a fancy, cold loaf of veggies or meat that is suspended in gelatin.  Explaining it now again gives me pause about why in the world I wanted to try this in the first place, but it is absolutely a beautiful thing to behold.  My pictures do not give justice to how pretty a dish this actually is, however strange it may taste.  Separately, the components all taste good, cabbage leaves, parsley, ham hock, but to suspend them in gelatin, that is what my taste buds just did not understand nor agree with.

My purpose for this post is definitely not to share a recipe (if you're really interested I'm sure you can find your own) but to hopefully open a dialogue with other foodies about what the deal is with terrines.  Is it just my uncultured American taste buds that terrines disagree with?  Is it that I found a horrid recipe for them?  Does anyone actually LIKE them?  I had my husband do the dishes last night because I couldn't stand to look at it any more (My husband thought I was completely over-reacting and didn't find it bad at all) it was that unappetizing to me.