Fancy Pork Chops

The great thing about pork chops is they can be quick, easy and plain. On the other hand, they can be fancy.

This recipe is for fancy pork chops. And the beauty is that they’re not difficult at all. Better yet they’re quick to get on the table.

The fancy thing here is the sauce. You will need a fresh lemon for this unless you have dehydrated zest on your shelf–and even though that may be a pricy initial outlay, you’ll be glad you made the investment. I don’t think capers are in most people’s cupboards so that you will probably have to purchase (hint–it’s worth it).

Capers Make It Fancy

If you add capers to anything, it makes whatever you add them to special and fancy.

Capers are actually flower buds of a plant. You can find them in the section of your food store where the pickles and olives are–generally. You will also find them in the Latin section of your store. I won’t kid you; they’re pretty pricy. They are worth it though and the beauty is you will use most of them in this recipe because the jar is small. They have many other uses too. Genuine tartar sauce contains capers so with the tablespoon or so you have left, treat yourself to your own homemade tartar sauce. By the way, they are pickled so as long as you reserve enough juice to cover what’s left, they will keep well in the fridge.

Tangy Sauce

The lemon and caper flavors make a nice tangy sauce for these pork chops. It perfectly offsets the sweetness of pork–and it’ll go great with chicken too. In fact, this dish is similar to chicken piccata in many ways so if you enjoy that, you will enjoy this.

The sauce is evened out in flavor by the addition of butter. Butter adds the bit of richness the sauce needs as well as slightly tempering the tartness.

The Recipe

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Pork Chops in Lemon Caper Sauce

Sounds gourmet but very easy!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Course: Dinner, Main, Main Course, Pork

Cuisine: American

Keyword: caper sauce, fancy pork chops, gourmet pork chops, pork with lemon recipes

Servings: 4

Calories: 467kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 thick boneless pork chops about 1-in/2.5cm thick
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp fresh thyme finely minced (see NOTES)
• 2 tbs olive oil

Sauce:

• 4 tbs unsalted butter divided
• 1 tbs onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 tbs flour
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 ½ cups chicken stock
• 2 tbs drained capers
• 2 tbs minced fresh parsley plus more for garnish
• 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest plus 2 tablespoons juice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Mix together the salt, pepper and minced thyme. Dry the pork chops with paper towels and season on both sides with the salt mixture.
• Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and heat until oil shimmers. Add the chops to the pan and brown well on both sides until cooked through—about 5-7 minutes per side. Remove chops to a plate and cover to keep warm.
• Drain any fat from the skillet, then melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in the pan until it sizzles. Now add the onion and garlic and saute for about a minute.
• Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Now whisk in the wine and the stock. Raise the heat to high and brings the sauce to a boil scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan.
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half. This will be about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the drained capers, parsley and the lemon zest; simmer about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until it’s melted then place the chops back in the pan to heat through.

Notes

You can substitute 1/4-1/2 tsp dried thyme for the fresh.

Video

Nutrition

Serving: 1chop | Calories: 467kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 1473mg | Potassium: 648mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 571IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 2mg

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