As someone who mostly eats vegetarian during the week, leaving the weekends to unleash the carnivore in me, there are times during the week when I just crave a piece of meat. That happened last week so I headed to the supermarket and picked up a couple of pork chops.
Chops and steaks are quick-cooking cuts of meat, and they are ideal for the stovetop or grill. Generally cut thinly, they come bone-in or boneless. The bone-in chops and steaks take a couple minutes or longer to cook than their boneless counterparts. While I got my chops because I was hankering for a piece of meat, chops (and steaks) are great when entertaining (generally) especially on short notice.
A wet marinade or dry rub can be used to season the meat, but with good quality meat, a basic seasoning of salt and freshly ground or cracked black pepper is all you need to bring out the flavour.
I got myself some bone-in loin chops, grabbed a packet of fresh sugar snap peas and headed home. Here’s how I made my dinner.
The chops were trimmed of their skin and excess fat, leaving just a thin layer of the fat for flavour and to keep the meat moist. They were rinsed and pat dry, then seasoned with an all-purpose seasoning that already has salt. I set aside the pork chops to marinate for 20 minutes (maybe more), as I busied myself about the kitchen, including steaming the ripe plantains that were going to accompany the chops.
I like an uncoated cast iron skillet for cooking chops and steaks so that is what I used. With a drizzle of oil, the pan was placed on medium heat to get hot until almost smoking. The chops were added to the pan to cook for 3 minutes on the first side, then flipped and cooked for 2 minutes on the other side. Once cooked, the pork chops were removed from the pan and left to rest while I assembled the accompaniments.
Something to note. The cooking time for my chops is for ¾ to 1-inch thick pork chops. If your chops are thicker, they will need a longer cook time, about 2 to 3 minutes longer on both sides. If you are using boneless pork chops, then cook for a total of 3 to 4 minutes. It could be 2 minutes on both sides or 3 minutes on the first side and 1 minute on the other. However you do it, be sure to let the chops rest before serving or cutting into it; 5 to 7 minutes is good time.
Here are a couple things of note:
Make some cuts crossways on the fat (after trimming the excess) to prevent the chop from curling when it hits the heat.
If using a wet marinade, shake off the excess before adding the meat to the pan. Once the meat is cooked and removed from the pan, deglaze the pan with stock or wine to make a sauce or gravy to serve with chops.
This is one of my kinds of fast food. It’s done cooking quickly.
Enjoy!
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
