I have Nita's recipe. Party Bake Pork Chops Betty Crocker New Dinner For Two Cookbook copyright 1964 4 lean pork chops, 1" thick 4 thin slices onion 1/4 cup uncooked rice (not instant) 1 can (1 lb. 13 oz.) tomatoes 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt pepper Trim any excess fat from chops. Season chops well on both sides with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides in lightly greased hot skillet. Top each chop with a slice of onion, 1 tbsp rice, and cover with whole tomatoes. Add any remaining tomatoes and juice to skillet. Cover tightly; simmer over low heat or bake in foil covered baking dish at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until tender. 4 servings. This is Nita's way of making them: I don't brown the chops. I put them in an oblong baking dish and put sliced onions on them and then I rinse my oriental rice (Calrose or Hinode) to remove the talc. It won't hurt if you have a little extra rice. Then I take a large can of whole tomatoes and break them up all over the pork chops. I add some water to the can to get the rest of the juice and then cover with foil and bake. This is delicious served with soy sauce to taste. From Nita AZ

When I said it can't be that hard, I meant that it to a layman like me it looks like a trim job, but maybe it is more complicated than that. Since I am not a professional, I don't know if it is complicated or not. That is why I am asking the question. And rather than speaking to 50 people on the phone or making appointments and wasting everyone's time, I am asking the group that seems to know everything about everything when it comes to building and design. I have talked with contractors and asked for quotes, but I get no response or say it can't be done. Why can't it be done? Is it because the entire dormer has to come off the house? Is it because there would be leakage problems if we mess with what is already there? Is it because the people I talk to are not familiar with classic or traditional architecture or aren't skilled enough to know how to do anything but the "pork chop" style? Could it be that the risk is not worth the return? Should I talk to an architect or could a contractor that does wood working do the job, or is there someone else I should talk to? Is this a $500 job or a $50,000 job? I guess I would like to know more so that I can be more educated and find the right person for the job. That's all. In the pictures I posted, it appears that the "box" for ventilation is still there, but in the after picture there is no trim on the front (the part that looks like a pork chop). It looks like you take off the front and re-work the trim. But, again, I am not a professional and I could be totally wrong.

Pork is so lean so less tenderizing fats. Quick searing and use that Thermapen. : ) Or long and slow braising will give a tender result. Marcella Hazan has some good braising recipes. One good recipe she uses milk and it separates cooking down where the separated solids, curd, caramelize. Looks odd but delicious. For a nice seared bone-in chop, go with thick so you can get a nice crust without the inevitable over-cooking. (....the one and only reason i purchased sous vide when the price came down...amazing for pork chops)

dcarch, I agree with you. The meat can still be able to be very well cooked but not tender and not moist. It can be so dry as to be choking to try to eat. Moist does not mean in a gravy or a broth. It means being marbled with fat. I posted above how I will bread chops like that and bake them. When they have a nice layer of breading around them, they DO get nicely tender with a nice breading. I understand that not everyone wants breading, but if I were to cook the same chops in a skillet or on a grill, they will be dry and tough and pretty much tasteless.. I know from experience. A lot of the pork that we get nowadays is leaner and that is not good for pork. The fat is part of the essential flavor and appeal of pork. I know that some like that canned soup flavor, but, it is my personal opinion that when you pour that soup over food, you are just using the food as a medium for eating the soup. I know that others feel differently about it. It makes everything taste the same, just like the can of soup. And, why use a can of chicken soup over pork? Of course, the chicken soup in the can tastes nothing like chicken anyway, so.......... Take a look at what is in that can and you will find a list of ingredients that have asterisks beside them. Essentially that means that they are not real and consist of other ingredients that are not listed. It is a highly processed food. If you buy a nice piece of meat, why make it taste like a can of soup or a package of dried onion soup mix? I try to buy meat from better sources than the grocery store. We have less meat, but much better quality meat. There are other wonderful things to have for dinner that don't involve either grocery store ground beef or canned soups, or any meat, at all. Most American diets are meat heavy, as are most Americans.