Pork Chops with Capers

After a lot of great food in Nice, it was time to come home and face the stove.

Although my go-to pork chop recipe is the French way with cornichons and mustard, every now and then you need to switch things up. This recipe was really trending on the NY Times Cooking site and it had capers in it, so how bad could it be? Serves 4:

Pork Chops with Capers

• 4 bone-in pork chops (about 8 ounces each)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 very small shallot, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons drained capers
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons juice
• Hot sauce (optional)

Dry the chops with paper towels, and season aggressively with salt and pepper. Swirl the olive oil into a large skillet, and heat over medium until the oil begins to shimmer. Add chops and cook until well browned on each side and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a plate, and cover to keep warm.

Drain the fat from the skillet, then melt 2 tablespoons of butter in it over medium heat until sizzling. Add the shallot and garlic, and sauté until soft, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the wine and chicken stock, raise heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half, 7 to 10 minutes.

Stir in the capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and hot sauce (if you’re using it), and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until it’s melted and the sauce looks smooth. Nestle the pork chops into the sauce and allow them to warm up for a couple of minutes, spooning some of the sauce over them. Serve and enjoy!

My verdict:

Great, really great! Loved the lemon sauce and was trying to think of other uses for it (like chicken).

The original recipe called for ½ teaspoon of dried thyme leaves to be sprinkled on the chops before cooking, but IMHO dried thyme is one of the fastest ways to ruin a dish, so I left it out. And as per usual, no parsley in my fridge, so we were garnish-free. I did use a couple of splashes of Frank’s Hot Sauce, but not so much that you’d notice.

I was serving the pork chops with spinach, so I sautéed the spinach first, and then tossed it back in the pan with the chops so it would get some of the sauce, which worked out really well. Try this and let me know what you think.