Things You'll Need:
- Pork chops
- Aluminum foil
- A pan with sides at least 1 1/2 inches high
- A fork
- Oil, preferably virgin olive oil
- Garlic
- Thyme
- Worcestershire sauce
- Lemon juice
- Black pepper
- Salt
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Step 1
Purchase pork chops that are fresh! Your finished meal will only be as good as the ingredients you use. Personally I would recommend using bone-in pork chops, as they contain cuts of meat with more moisture, but if you prefer more of a "white meat" taste then boneless center cut chops are fine. I would also recommend free range or similarly raised pork, as it tastes more flavorful. Look for a nice, dark color on your meat. It should give under a touch but not be squishy, and watch out for a significant accumulation of juice in the package as this means the meat has been sitting out for a while.
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Step 2
Once you get your pork home, you're ready to begin your preparation!
First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Now you're ready to break out your chops. Do not trim the fat! Those strips of marbling provide much of the flavor and moisture while cooking, so resist the urge - if you don't want to eat the fat, trim it off the cooked chops at your plate.
Place your pork chops into your pan, which should have sides between 1 and 1 1/2 inches high - for pork chops I usually use a food-safe glass pan, as they tend to pick up little flakes from metal pans and no one wants tiny peels of metal as a condiment. Also, make sure the pan is not any bigger than necessary to hold your pork chops! Too much space inside your pan allows more moisture to evaporate, and we don't want that. -
Step 3
Time for the good part! Lay your pork chops flat in the pan and give each one a good splash of olive oil, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice - the lemon can come through a bit strong, so be judicious with it according to your personal taste. Add about 1 teaspoon of jar-garlic (or 1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic) to the top of each pork chop, then sprinkle all chops with some thyme, black pepper, and salt. Using good quality salt and pepper from grinders is a good idea, as pork is a mild meat as you'll be able to taste the quality of the spices used. Now get ready to get dirty, because you need to hand-rub all the ingredients into the chops. Make sure to flip them over and give the other side a liberal coating as well.
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Step 4
Now, this is the important key to preserving the moist, juicy goodness of your chops:
First, take a fork and poke your chops full of holes. Be brave! You want to make sure your meat has been thoroughly perforated with fork holes on both sides. This lets the flavors mingle and retains those delicious juices.
Next, with your pork chops all prepared, cover your pan with aluminum foil and scrunch it up around the edge to make sure it's covered tightly. This is something you should do with any pork dish to keep it moist and well-basted, because pork has an awful tendency to dry out on you. -
Step 5
Finally, throw your pan in the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, and you'll have perfect pork chops! They go great with mashed potatoes or rice, and all that delicious juice can go into small dishes to be served as an au jus dip for a nice, hearty bread.
Enjoy!
Comments
maryanne09 said
on 3/8/2009 5*'s Saved to my faves. :o)
jenkinr said
on 3/6/2009 Olive oil, worchestershire sauce and lemon juice???? Never heard of doing this before. I'm going to have to give it a try. Thanks....5*
woot said
on 3/4/2009 I especially appreciate your tips on how to select the meat. Thanks.
metaminstrel said
on 3/4/2009 Thank you jaynimsol! I hope you'll enjoy them!
jaynimsol said
on 3/3/2009 oh my goodness now i'm hungry! I'll have to try this recipe out when my husband gets back from his trip! And great advice about the pan being just the right size, i never knew that made a difference! 5* and rec!