I’ve got a good variety of spices available to me, but I don’t want to special order anything, so a recipe that requires, say, curry spices or lesser-used Asian ones won’t work. Just give me something that will produce chops that aren’t dry and tasteless! I’ve got two chops that are about 7 oz. each.
I’m thinking potato pancakes and applesauce as sides in case that helps at all.
What kind? Rib chops, loin chops…?
This is an amazing recipe, works astonishingly well for keeping pork chops moist, but it’s not for you if you’re planning these for dinner tonight. Give this method a try when you have time to marinate:
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 squirt lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 pinch rosemary
1 1/2 pounds pork center loin chops – trimmed of fat
Incredible.
Boneless loin, and they’re frozen so I’m looking for ideas now before I thaw them. Thanks for the recipe, Aspenglow, it sounds great! Sounds like that would work well on the grill machine since I can control the heat better with it.
Yayyy!! 
Glad to help! Please let me know how it works out for you!
I’ve been on a thin loin chop kick lately. I’m just using a salt brine for maybe 90 minutes and then grill over hot coals. It’s a quarter cup of salt per 4-6 chops, cover in brine.
I’ve got a recipe for a pork chops and rice baked casserole in our old cookbook. Calls for a can of cream of mushroom soup, sliced mushrooms, white wine and thinly-sliced onions. It’s kinda late right now, but I’ll look it up in the morning.
Yeah, brining definitely works well with loin chops. I had pork chops the other day, and what I like to do is just smother them in jerk paste (Walkerswood is great; sometimes I do homemade when I have the time to gather up all the ingredients but, honestly, Walkerswood is just as good.) Let it marinate overnight or for at least two hours, and just grill. Don’t overcook, and you’re good to go.
I just did a simple Asian-style marinade and grilled some pork chops this past weekend, and they were a big hit, including with the kids, who tend to be very picky about what they eat. It may violate your “no lesser-used Asian ingredients” requirement, but you could probably sub where necessary.
Marinade (I don’t do amounts, I just wing it):
[ul]
[li]Soy sauce[/li][li]Mirin (sub with any vinegar if no mirin- apple cider vinegar would be good)[/li][li]Toasted sesame oil (just enough for flavor, skip if not on hand. But toasted sesame oil is a good ingredient to have on hand)[/li][li]Olive oil[/li][li]Garlic powder (I usually would do crushed fresh garlic, but I was feeling lazy)[/li][li]Black pepper[/li][/ul]
I didn’t bother with a whole Asian theme, doing Asian style sides, I just did potatoes and veggies.
While I’m sure that would work, mirin is a sweetened rice wine, so something like a sherry or white wine with some sugar in it I’d imagine would be closer to the original. What you got going there is basically a flavored spin-off of basic teriyaki (which is soy, mirin, and often sake, roughly in equal proportions, but some recipes double the amount of soy; some halve the amount of mirin. Many also add additional sugar).
Very good, that’s what I was going to ask!
Get a meat thermometer. That’s the only way to guarantee they aren’t dry without a lot of experience with cuts like that.
Brining will help a little to keep them moist, but once they start to overcook they’ll squeeze it all out anyway. Definitely nice though.
Turn it into schnitzel.
Actually I was wrong on the mirin- I used rice vinegar. So any vinegar with maybe a bit of brown sugar added. Or, do lemon or lime juice instead of vinegar, and you have basically Aspenglow’s marinade posted above, with rosemary being an interesting wild card.
Thin-cut meats like pork chops are kind of tough to test with a meat thermometer. I just do coals on one side of the grill, give them a sear on each side, and move the chops to the cool side of the grill while grilling some asparagus on the hot side. By the time the asparagus is done the chops are done. Fortunately pork doesn’t have to be cooked to 165 like chicken any more, so you don’t have to worry too much about undercooking thin-cut chops.
Well yeah, that’s a good point about thin ones. I had pictured in my head 3/4-1" chops.
Thin, bone-**in pork chops are too easy to fuck up on the grill. Best to season, dredge in flour, and pan fry. Centerpiece of a fine southern dinner.
The other night I took a boneless chop, cut it into 1/2 inch pieces, tossed with a LOT of Penzey’s Southwest seasoning,* and sautéed it in a little bacon grease along with some sliced onion and cubanelle pepper. I put it in warm corn tortillas with pico de gallo, sliced avocado and pickled jalapeño. Really memorable dinner, and a breeze to prepare.
Oh, that is always an excellent idea! I recently did a version that used crushed saltines instead of the traditional breadcrumbs (which I guess is popular for fried fish, too – the saltines coating, that is), and it came out fantastic.
I use crushed saltines for a binder in salmon cakes and also for coating.
Another vote for schnitzel. I’ll take a 1" chop, pound it flat using the bottom of a jar of spaghetti sauce from the pantry until it’s the size of a frisbee. Cut into servings with kitchen scissors. Dredge in Flour -> egg/milk -> flour -> egg/milk -> panko breadcrumbs. Fry in oil. Delish.
Or a 1 1/2" rib chop. Sugar/salt brine for a few hours, then sous vide at 135ish for an hour or so. Sear in an iron pan with butter and thyme. Tender and juicy.
I don’t do thin chops (except schnitzel). Too easy to make shoe leather.
And, if you’re feeling like gilding the lily a bit, go for jägerschnitzel, and serve it with a mushroom-onion-bacon gravy.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In sauce pan melt butter over medium heat. Add salt, pepper and flour. Pour in chicken broth, cook and stir until mixture boils. Remove from heat and set aside.
In skillet brown pork chops in butter. Grease a cooking dish with butter and layer thinly sliced potatoes. Pour mixture over potatoes and place browned chops on top. Sprinkle paprika on top.
Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
Cooking times would vary depending on how thick the chops are.