Key West Pork Chops

This is a recipe I've been making for years. As a matter of fact, the cookbook that provided the inspiration for it came with me on our 7 year sailing adventure. There weren't very many times that pork chops were available (ones that I would eat, that is), but when they were, this was a go-to recipe. I've adapted it from The New York Times Cook Book, by Craig Claiborne.

Key West Pork Chops

2 TBSP oil
4 - 6 pork chops (not the boneless kind - they dry out too much, even with this moist recipe)
1 1/2 cups raw rice (I think long grain white rice works best here)
1 onion, sliced
lemon or lime, sliced
salsa (your favorite brand, or homemade)
3 cups tomato (or V-8) juice
tabasco sauce

Brown the pork chops on both sides in the oil in a large frying pan. Here, they are just starting on side one:

Remove the chops to a plate and stir in the rice, just to coat with the remaining oil. Turn the rice into a large greased baking pan. You need a deep-ish one. Arrange the pork chops on top of the rice.Sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired. Distribute the onion and lemon (or lime) slices on top. Spoon some salsa over each pork chop and add a bit of tabasco here and there. Here's what mine looked like at this point:

Pour the juice around the pork chops. Cover tightly with foil. Bake at 325 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours. I forgot to take a picture of them on our plates, but here's what the baking pan looked like after we ate half:

I served this with roasted brussels sprouts, because that's what I had on hand.