Pan-Roasted Juniper and Thyme Pork Chops

Pan-Roasted Juniper and Thyme Pork Chops

Lyn and I took a vacation in Booth Bay area Maine back in 2020, we rented a small cabin in a cluster. There were about 6 scattered through the property. Looking out over the harbor and eating a great meal. I had pork chop which was prepared in a Juniper berry based brined. I was so impressed that I asked the chef how he created. He quickly rattled off the ingredients and I tried to duplicate. Came close but never hit it on the nose. I tried many variations of my recipe Pan Fried Pork Chops With Juniper and Rosemary.

Anyway I became a fan of juniper berry and while searching for some Ideas I came up with this we both liked this and will ad my tweaks to our rotation. I’ll add notes as to some changes I made.

The ultimate moist and flavorful pork chops. Well worth the time! Recipe by jmjodar  https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/284395/pan-roasted-juniper-and-thyme-pork-chops/

Note: First only had two thick ButcherBox pork chops so i sort of cut ingredients in halve below is the full recipe.

Ingredients

  • 4 cloves garlic divided
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup kosher salt
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons juniper berries Steve Note: I did not cut this in half
  • 2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme, divided Steve Note: I did not cut this in half
  • 5 cups ice Steve Note: did not use Ice
  • 4 (1-inch thick) bone-in pork chops Steve Note: Only had 2 chops
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • sea salt to taste

Directions

  1. Peel garlic cloves. Leave 2 cloves whole and set aside for basting. Halve the remaining 2 cloves crosswise.
  2. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add halved garlic cloves, salt, sugar, juniper berries, peppercorns, and 1 sprig of thyme. Stir to dissolve salt and sugar. Transfer to a large bowl and add ice. Stir until brine is cool. Steve Note: I had errand to run so I left on the stove t cool skipped the ice then refrigerated until ready to brine the chops. The next morning I added pork chops in plastic bag, sealed, and chilled in the refrigerator for 8 to 12 hours.
  3. Remove chops from the brine and pat dry. Discard brine.
  4. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Set a wire rack inside a rimmed baking sheet. Steve Note: just used my cast iron pan.
  5. Heat oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Add chops and cook without turning until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Turn and cook until beginning to brown on the other sides, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, turning every 2 minutes, until both sides are golden brown, 5 to 7 more minutes.
  6. Transfer the skillet to the preheated oven and roast, turning chops every 2 minutes, for 14 minutes.
  7. Remove skillet from the oven and drain fat. Place on the stovetop over medium heat. Add butter, reserved 2 garlic cloves, and remaining sprig of thyme; cook until butter is foamy, 3 to 5 minutes. Tip the skillet slightly and use a large spoon to baste the chops until butter is brown and smells nutty, 2 to 3 minutes.
  8. Transfer chops to the prepared rack and let rest, turning often to ensure juices are evenly distributed, about 15 minutes. Finish with a light sprinkle of sea salt.

Next time I’ll try crunching the juniper berries bringing out more of the flavor.

Easy Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Easy Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Juicy honey garlic pork chops with caramelized edges ready and on your table in less than 15 minutes! smothered in the best 4-ingredient sauce!

I had some center cut pork chops from ButcherBox and I was wondering what to do with it. Maria had given us some Mike Hot Honey so I though honey mustard but after checking out a few recipes on line I decide to modify this one from Café Delites. I only had two chops so I split them in half. I think next time I won’t cut in half. Anyway this was pretty darn good.  

This Honey Garlic Pork Chops Recipe is so easy you won’t believe it when it’s done! No marinating needed, this recipe is an incredibly quick and delicious way to serve bone in or boneless pork chops — seared until golden then simmered and broiled (or grilled) in the most amazing honey garlic sauce!

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 pork chops bone in or out
  • Salt and pepper, to season
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup honey Steve Note: I used Mike’s Hot Honey
  • 1/4 cup water (or chicken broth)
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar, or any white vinegar)

How

  1. Preheat oven broiler (or grill) on medium-high heat. Season chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder just before cooking.
  2. Heat oil in a pan or skillet over medium high heat until hot. Sear chops on both sides until golden and cooked through (about 4-5 minutes each side). Transfer to a plate; set aside.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Melt butter in the same pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Sauté garlic until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add the honey, water and vinegar. Increase heat to medium-high and continue to cook until the sauce reduces down and thickens slightly (about 3-4 minutes), while stirring occasionally.
  4. Add pork back into the pan, baste generously with the sauce and broil/grill for 1-2 minutes, or until edges are slightly charred.
  5. Garnish with parsley and serve over vegetables, rice, pasta or with a salad.

Optional

Baked Pork Chops:

  1. Preheat oven to 390°F | 200°C.
  2. Sear seasoned chops in a hot oven-proof pan or skillet over medium-high for 2 minutes per side — get them crisp.
  3. Remove chops and make your sauce following the recipe above (Step 3).
  4. Baste with sauce and bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, or until reaching your desired doneness.
  5. Broil/grill for 2 minutes to get those caramelized edges!

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Simple Pan Seared Pork Chops

Simple Pan Seared Pork Chops

I get my pork chops from Butcher Box and I have a lot of different recipes this is a simple yet very good one here are some others Pan Fried Pork Chops With Juniper and Rosemary, Air Fryer Parmesan Coated Pork Chops, Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze, Pan Seared Oven Roasted Porkchops with Roasted Veggies, anyway I wanted simple so I grabbed my cast iron pan.

Ingredients

  • Pork Chops (mine are thick about 1.5 to 2”
  • Kosher Salt
  • Cracked Pepper
  • ½ TBS unsalted butter
  • ½ TBS olive oil

How

Bring chops to room temperature.

Pat dry with paper towels

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

In a cast iron pan on medium high heat melt butter and add olive oil. Once the butter has melted and mixture is bubbling place the pork chop in pan.

Cook about 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and register about 135-140 degrees. Timing depends on thickness.

Remove from heat and let rest should get to about 10 minutes and around 145 Degree

So simple but so good.

Pan Fried Pork Chops With Juniper and Rosemary

Pan Fried Pork Chops With Juniper and Rosemary

Up front this would work better with bone in, and fresh rosemary but you have to do with what you have because running out to the grocery store to pick up one or two things thing is a tough decision these days, especially for seniors.

This week has been a pork week from sausage patties with our breakfast for supper last night to tonight’s 30 Minute Pork Piccata. See ther is the What’s for syndrom and its only 9:30 AM.

I had two boneless pork chops in the freezer from Butcher Box and since our last anniversary in Maine where I had Brined pork chop and have been playing with this to duplicate. Came close but not there yet. Anyway

I tried this with what I had, I should have cut the chops in half to make thinner but it still came out Ok. This is definitely a work in progress for me and can’t wait for my herb garden to start to flourish.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 Bone-In Pork Chops, About 1/2 Inch Thick
  • 1/2 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive OIl
  • 2 Tablespoons Juniper Berries
  • 1 Tablespoon Black Peppercorns
  • 2 Tablespoons Chopped Fresh Rosemary Note: I had to use dried so I heated in oil first, fresh would be so much better
  • Sea Salt

How

  1. Use the back of a knife to crush the juniper berries and peppercorns.
  2. In a heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over medium high heat along with the juniper berries, rosemary, and peppercorns until lightly smoking, then fry the chops for turning every minute, until no longer pink. 5-6 minutes estimated time.
  3. Sprinkle with sea salt, and serve immediately.

BTW left over made great pork rollup for Lunch the next day.

Air Fryer Parmesan Coated Pork Chops

Air Fryer Parmesan Coated Pork Chops

I love pork chops, bone in, boneless, stuffed, fried mostly like the taste of the crunchy fat…shhhh don’t tell Lyn she would not approve. Anyway, I wanted to try something different in the air fryer so I looked at a lot of recipes and came up with my take. My only complaint is that it was maybe a little too salty, Cooking Channel salty if you know what I mean. But parmesan cheese does have a lot of salt. Any suggestion on the salt let me know.

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 boneless pork chops
  • 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. paprika
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

How

  1. I like to quick brine pork especially if I’m grilling. Water, Honey and about a tablespoon of salt for about 15 minutes. Rinse when done with fresh water.
  2. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels, then coat both sides with oil.
  3. In a medium bowl, combine Parmesan and spices. Coat both sides of pork chops with Parmesan mixture.
  4. Place pork chops in basket of air fryer and cook at 375-400° for 9 minutes, flipping halfway through. Depending on the size you may need to adjust the time. I use an instant read thermometer about 145 degrees internal.
Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze

Pork Chops with Cider, Horseradish Glaze

I was shocked that Lyn choose bone in pan fried pork chops for her free meal this week. I always loved the taste of pan fried pork chops and the added treat of a bone to munch on it was like a dessert for me. Maybe she had too many of these growing up but being a nice Jewish kid pork did not make it to our table that often, we were reformed reformed Jews. There is something about pork and winter that go together.

Ingredients

forgot to leave out the horsradish for picture it is shy

forgot to leave out the horseradish for picture it is shy

Serves 2-4

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup hard or pressed apple cider
  • 2 Tbsp. freshly grated or prepared horseradish
  • 1/2 tsp. table salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper

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Chops:

  • 4 bone-in loin pork chops, 1/2-inch thick, about 1 1/2 pounds total, at room temperature
  • Table salt
  • Black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Pork chops with Cider, horse radish  glaze

Garnish

  • 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill

1. Whisk the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Trim any excess fat from around chops until you only have about 1/8 inch of fat. Pat chops dry with a paper towel and generously season them with salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in a heavy, 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until oil starts to smoke. Add pork chops to the skillet and cook them until they are well-browned, about 3 minutes. Turn chops and cook 1 minute longer, then transfer them to a plate and pour off any fat in skillet.

4. Pour glaze into the skillet and bring it to a simmer. Cook until mixture thickens enough that your spatula leaves a trail when scraped across the pan, 2 to 4 minutes.

5. Return chops and any juices to the skillet; turn to coat both sides with glaze. Continue to cook over medium-high heat until the center of the chops registers 140 on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

6. Serve chops with glaze drizzled over them and sprinkled with dill.

Recipe adapted from “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook” by Deb Perelman.