Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops

I'm stuck in classes most nights and starting in January (or maybe December) I'll have a long term substitute teaching position to replace a pregnant math teacher. The Brain also works long hours for some clients who would test the patience of a saint. Thus our happy little family has become fairly dependent on the slow cooker. It didn't start out so well. In the beginning the slow cooker produced some of the very worst dinners yet. But, now that I've got the lovely Chester Pig in the freezer and found some delicious slow cooker cookbooks, I think I'm getting the hang of it!

This is the Brain's all time favorite slow cooker meal. He's also a really big fan of the Party Beans, but these Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops are his favorite. I think. I know he really really really likes them. I like that some time in the morning I just have to sear the chops and then throw them and a whole bunch of really inexpensive pantry items into the slow cooker and when I get home tired and hungry from school this delicious pork is all ready for me. And this pork is so tender usually just the bones are left in the slow cooker.

Mushroom Sauce Pork Chops

from Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes

4 pork chops

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 medium onion thinly sliced

2 Tbsp quick cooking tapioca

1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup sherry

1 (4 ounce) can sliced mushrooms

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

3/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp garlic powder

egg noodles

Trim fat from chops and brown on both sides in a skillet in hot oil. Drain off fat. In 5 quart slow cooker place onion and then chops. If you have a mortar and pestle grind tapioca to a powder, otherwise place tapioca in a plastic baggie and whack away at it with a meat tenderizer. In a bowl, combine tapioca, soup, sherry, mushrooms, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, and garlic powder. Pour over chops.

Cover and cook on low for 8 or 9 hours. Serve over egg noodles.