Sometimes you just crave good pork chops.
I did and this recipe from bon appetit with capers and rosemary caught my attention. Serves 2:
Pork Chops With Rosemary and Capers
- 2 1″-thick bone-in pork chops
- Salt
- 1½ teaspoons sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 large shallot, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1 tablespoon drained capers
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Season pork chops with salt and sprinkle evenly with ½ teaspoon of sugar. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chops, undisturbed, until well-browned underneath, about 3 minutes. Turn and cook just until second side is lightly browned, about 1 minute. Transfer chops to a plate (they won’t be fully cooked) and reduce heat to medium.
Pour remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil into the same skillet and add shallot and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until softened and just beginning to brown, about 3 minutes.
Add vinegar and remaining 1 teaspoon sugar to skillet. Cook, swirling pan occasionally, until vinegar is nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Add rosemary, capers, and ½ cup water to skillet; season with salt. Reduce heat as needed to maintain a very low simmer. Add butter and swirl pan continuously (and vigorously) until sauce becomes smooth, glossy, and emulsified.
Return pork chops to skillet, arranging darker side up. Simmer gently in sauce, swirling occasionally, until chops are cooked through, about 3 minutes (a thermometer inserted near the bones should register 135°).
Transfer pork chops to plates and spoon sauce over, serve and enjoy!
My verdict:
These were really good and will go into regular rotation along with the ones with mustard and cornichons! I served them with mashed potatoes so I could take the new GIR potato masher for a test run and they were the perfect vehicle to soak up the extra sauce (BTW, the potato masher is great too but more about that later).
I was a little leery of the sugar in the recipe since I’d just trashed my grill pan because a marinade had sugar in it, but it was fine and my cast iron pan easily handled it.
Sage would probably work well in place of the rosemary, depending on what you had on hand.
