Pork Chop Recipes

Brine or Marinade

Pork chops are very tasty on their own but even tastier if you marinade them before cooking. You might be asking “What is the difference between a brine and a marinade?” Good question. Without getting into the molecular gastronomy of the whole thing, brines tend to be watery and contain a good amount of salt while marinades are thicker and have very little salt. Another difference between a marinade and a brine is that marinades can be strained and reduced for use as a sauce while brines are discarded after being used for the pork chops.

You’re Soaking In It

Pork Chop recipes seem to be broken up into two groups:

• Soak the pork
• Coat the pork

I like the "soak the pork" versions. I feel they impart a better and more evenly distributed flavor to the pork chop. Think of it like this: a breading will coat the pork with flavor and give it a great texture, but a marinade or brine will infuse the flavor throughout the chop.

Pork Chop Recipes

Stuffed Pork Chops

Serves 6

Pork Chop Instructions

1. 6 1½ inch thick pork chops
2. Using a paring knife, make a 1-inch long cut near the bone on the chop.
3. Gently work the knife into the chop to create a pocket for the stuffing.
4. Try to get as large a pocket as you can without actually cutting through to the outside of the chop.
5. Brine these for at least 1 hour, but 3 hours would be best.

The Brine Ingredients

• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (I like dark brown sugar but any brown sugar will work perfectly well)
• ¼ cup plus 4 tablespoons of salt (kosher salt if you have it)
• 8 cups of warm water (tap hot is perfect)

Instructions

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl large enough to hold 6 pork chops.
2. Place the pork chops into the brining liquid.
3. Make sure the chops are completely covered with the brine.
4. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

Stuffing Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cup of breadcrumbs (any breadcrumbs you have around will work)
• ¼ cup of toasted pine nuts, chopped fine
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bag of fresh baby spinach leaves
• ½ cup of feta cheese crumbed fine
• ¼ cup of ricotta cheese
• ½ cup of Parmesan Romano cheese
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
• 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet (about 3 tablespoons)

Instructions

1. Mix the pine nuts and breadcrumbs.
2. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil.
3. Heat the oil over a medium flame.
4. Add the spinach and sauté until the spinach starts to wilt.
5. Add the garlic.
6. Cook for a minute or two.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Drain the liquids from the spinach using a strainer or colander.
9. Mix the cheeses in a large bowl.
10. Add the breadcrumb mix and the spinach.
11. Add the lemon juice and the salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mix well.
12. Remove the pork chops from the brine and pat dry.
13. Stuff the pork chops with the stuffing.
14. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
15. Using a large skillet, pour in enough vegetable oil (not olive oil, please) to coat the bottom.
16. Heat the skillet over a medium high heat.
17. Once the oil is hot, place the chops into the skillet and cook 3 minutes each side.
18. Place the chops on a cookie sheet that has a rack on it and place them into the oven.
19. Cook the chops for 10 minutes, then flip them.
20. Cook for another 5 minutes and check the temperature with your thermometer. They should be 145 degrees.
21. If they are not, continue to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
22. Let the pork chops rest for ten minutes before serving.

Pork Chop Marinate

I have modified this recipe from the one I use at work, which makes 125 servings (that’s 24 pounds of pork chops.) Out of all the pork chops recipes that we use, this is the most popular and the one that uses the most commonly found ingredients.

Ingredients

• 6 1 ½ inch pork chops
• 1 cup of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup of honey
• ½ cup of applesauce
• ¼ cup of apple juice (if you are missing either the apple sauce or apple juice, just use more of whichever of the two you happen to have on hand)
• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
• ½ cup cold water

Instructions

1. Mix the soy sauce, honey, applesauce, apple juice, and brown sugar together in a bowl.
2. Add the pork chops and toss to coat.
3. Tightly cover the bowl with a lid or a lot of plastic wrap.
4. Place in your refrigerator.
5. Let the chops marinate for at least four hours, giving the bowl a good shake about every thirty minutes or so, or when you remember to.
6. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Remove the pork chops from the marinade and place them on a rack on a cookie sheet.
8. You may want to place a sheet of parchment paper on the cookie sheet or cover the cookie sheet with foil to help with clean up. The marinade will be hard to scrub off since there is a lot of sugar in it.
9. Bake the chops at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Check the temperature with a thermometer. They should be a minimum of 145 degrees.
10. Let the chops rest for ten minutes before serving.
11. While the chops are resting, strain the marinade into a saucepan.
12. Bring the marinade to a boil for about 5 minutes (it has to boil to kill bacteria).
13. Dissolve the cornstarch in the cool water.
14. Stir the dissolved cornstarch into the marinade until it reaches a sauce like consistency.
15. Serve the sauce with the chops.