Pork Chops with a Real Pan Sauce

Name: Pork Chops with a Real Pan Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick; 1 tablespoon neutral oil; Salt and black pepper; 1 shallot, finely diced; 1/2 cup dry white wine or extra stock; 3/4 cup chicken stock; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 3 tablespoons cold butter, cubed; 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves; Squeeze of lemon

The sauce is the lesson. Sear, remove, deglaze, reduce, then whisk in cold butter off the heat. Learn that sequence once and every seared chop, steak or chicken breast you ever cook comes with a sauce.

10 minPrep

15 minCook

4Serves

BeginnerLevel

How to tell it is right

The four cues for the moment that decides this dish.

LookThe fond lifts from brown patches into the liquid until the pan floor is clean

SmellThe raw sharpness of the wine softens into something round after about two minutes

SoundThe loud sizzle of searing drops to a low murmur once the liquid goes in

FeelThe finished sauce coats the back of a spoon and holds a line when you draw a finger through

Method

Season the chops generously on both sides and leave them at room temperature for 10 minutes. Cold meat seizes and cooks unevenly.
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high until it shimmers. Sear the chops 4 to 5 minutes per side, until deeply browned and 145 degrees F at the centre.
Move the chops to a board to rest. Do not wash or wipe the pan — those browned bits stuck to the bottom are the entire sauce.
Lower the heat to medium, add the shallot, and cook 1 minute. Pour in the wine and scrape hard with a wooden spoon until every brown patch lifts and the pan floor is clean.
Add the stock and mustard and simmer 4 to 5 minutes, until reduced by roughly half and slightly syrupy.
Take the pan completely off the heat. Whisk in the cold butter one cube at a time until the sauce turns glossy and thickens, then add the thyme, the resting juices from the board, and a squeeze of lemon. Spoon over the chops.

How it usually goes wrong

Boiling the sauce after the butter goes in. Butter is an emulsion, and a hard boil splits it into greasy pools. If it does split, pull the pan off the heat, add a splash of cold stock, and whisk hard — it usually comes back.

The bit that matters

Cold butter, off the heat, one cube at a time. Cold butter melts slowly enough to emulsify into the liquid rather than separating from it, which is the difference between a glossy sauce and a pan of oily stock.

*Approximately 480 calories per serving. Calories are an estimate from standard ingredient databases; actual values vary by brand and portion. See our disclaimer.