The best pork chops ever !!!

Pork chops are such a retro dish. I have memories of my mother's rather dry tough chops from dinners at our house in the early 60's. I may have tried to make them myself years ago but mostly ignore them when I see them at the market...until a month ago.

I love to buy meat from Fiesta Farms at my local farmer's market, their bacon, sausage, chicken and ground pork are all so tasty. The animals are all raised nearby with lots of love and fresh air. They are too busy farming to have a website but they do have a Facebook page if you want more information.

I was chatting with one of the people that sells for them one Saturday, on impulse I had purchased a couple of chops a few weeks earlier but was afraid to cook them for obvious reasons. I asked her how she would prepare them, a detailed explanation ensued. I went home and googled her "recipe". I tried it out and was amazed at how moist and tender the chops were AND it was very easy !!

The secret is the brine.

Very Easy Brined Pork Chops.

2-4 thick cut pork chops
olive oil
salt & pepper
cast iron skillet

Brine:
3 cups water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon lime juice


This is just a basic recipe for brine, feel free to be very creative.

The second time I made this dish I used part apple juice, with maple syrup instead of brown sugar and omitted the lime juice.

1) Place all ingredients into a small pan, bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the salt and sugar, turn off allow to cool. If you want to speed up the process, use 1 cup of water to dissolve the other ingredients then add the second two cups of cold water.

2) You can marinate the chops for as little as an hour and as long as several days. You can even put them in the cooled brine still frozen if you are planning on a longer brine time. I like to put them in a zip lock bag in a glass baking dish in the fridge.

3) It's always a good idea to let your meat come to room temperature before you cook it if you can. So take the chops out a couple hours before you plan to cook them if possible.

4)When you are ready to cook them, preheat your oven to 400 F and place your large cast iron skillet inside while the oven heats up.

5) Remove the chops from the bag and pat dry. Rub both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper them to taste.

6) Once the oven is hot, remove the cast iron skillet be sure to use oven mitts or hot pads. One of the recipes I looked at stressed this step ;-) " Using oven mitts, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and set it over medium-high heat on the stove top. Turn on a vent fan or open a window." Do that.

7) Sear the chops for 3 minutes on the one side.

8) Flip them over and place the skillet in the hot oven for 6-10 minutes.

   I found 8 minutes to be perfect for an inch thick chop.

9) Remove the skillet using those oven mitts/pot holders. Then remove the chops to a plate, cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

10) Serve !! Yum !! Never another dry or tough pork chop will you serve ;-)