Porkchops

Perfect Pan-Seared Pork Chops

Pork has had an unfortunate history in this country. As the child of a mother who learned to cook at a time when trichinosis scares were around, all of our pork chops were cooked to well-done. Couple that with the fact that the pork industry spent years catering to customer demands for leaner and leaner meat, and it led to a generation of kids that grew up knowing pork chops only as dry, pale slabs of meat as stringy as a burlap sack and as tough and leathery as Clint Eastwood with a sunburn. Yuck.

Pan-Roasted Brined Pork Chop

Brining these pork chops makes them moist, tender, and seasoned throughout, and the sugar helps create a dark, caramelized sheen. Learn how to make this recipe and more in our online cooking class with Sur la Table.

2 Servings

1/2 cup kosher salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon juniper berries

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

1 head of garlic, halved crosswise, plus 2 unpeeled cloves for basting

2 large sprigs thyme

1 2-inch-thick bone-in pork chop (2 ribs; about 1 1/4 lb.)

2 tablespoons grapeseed or vegetable oil

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Flaky or coarse sea salt

Chimichurri Pork Chops with Couscous

Simple seared pork and couscous get a flavor boost from garlicky chimichurri.

Skillet Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa

Topped with an insanely delish — and easy — pineapple salsa, these pork chops take on a fresh, tropical flavor.