Pork Chop
Many pork chop recipes call for brining the chops for anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight in a salt-based brine, which both helps the texture of the meat as well as seasoning the interior. Instead of a salt-based brine, I like to brine these in whey (left over from making cheese, such as the homemade ricotta on page X), which doesn’t add as much sodium, but still imparts a really lovely flavor to the meat, not to mention I feel like I should get a gold star for less food waste. Brining, even in whey, does add a little bit of sodium, but if you just brine for an hour or so, it will be pretty negligible. Still, feel free to skip the brine step if you don’t have time, don’t have the whey, or don’t have room in your sodium budget.
Ingredients
- 2 1-pound bone-in, thick cut pork chops
- 2 cups whey (discarded from homemade low sodium cheese)
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Preparation
If you are whey-brining, place the pork chops in a gallon sized zipper top bag, and top with the whey. Brine in the refrigerator for 30 minutes (or up to 10 hours), and then discard the brine and pat the chops dry with a paper towel.
Preheat the oven to 400F.
Heat a cast iron skillet large enough to fit the two chops side by side with a bit of room over high heat for 2 minutes. Then, add the chops, pushing the bone side of each of the chops against the edge of the pan. Cook for 3 minutes until golden, and then flip and cook for another 3 minutes. Transfer to the oven and roast for another 5 minutes, or until a meat thermometer reads 145F near (but not touching) the bone. Remove from the oven, and cover with aluminum foil, and let rest for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.