Brown Sugar & Thyme Pork Chops

What flavor does the grapeseed oil give the dish? Can I substitute with olive or vegetable oil?

We usually use grapeseed oil because it is neutral in flavor and has a high smoking point. Other neutral-tasting oils or olive oil can be used, if desired. Cheers!

Thank you for answering! What difference does it make to sear something in oil versus butter?

Just curious, have you watched the pan frying lesson? Some of this information is covered in that lesson. Cheers!

I watched it a while ago. I guess it's time for a review.... :)

Ah yes, it's funny how we all (including myself) need a refresher sometimes :-)

Sometimes it's not until we watch a lesson a few times that we pick up all of the different things that were talked about. Cheers!

I guess that goes to prove the axiom that you never stop learning until you die, and even then it's questionable!

This was my first Rouxbe recipe to practice my pan frying and I am amazed at how good it was. The chops were perfectly cooked, juicy with a nice brown crust. With a heaping side of the Creamy Mashed Potatoes - to die for.

Can pork chops be tempered before cooking? I know you recommend this for premium steaks, but advise against it for chicken because it's a health issue. I haven't been able to find anything on the site about what you recommend for pork chops.

Indeed, tempering pork chops for a half an hour or so is a good idea. Cheers!

Is there some trick to telling if a package of pork chops will likely turn out tougher or more tender?

I've been making pork chops using the pan frying technique. The first times were great. I marinated the pork chops both times before cooking, the first time using this marinade. This time I brined the pork chops. They were super tasty, but they were tough. I cooked them till they were still just a little pink inside. Not sure I would want to cook them much less. What should I keep in mind when I am shopping for pork?

I'm pretty proud of myself though, tough pork notwithstanding. I made a brine based on 30 grams of salt to a quart of apple juice, added garlic, onion, a cinnamon stick, whole allspice berries, clove, and a few cardamom pods as well as peppercorns and a bay leaf. I boiled the brine and let it steep to infuse the flavors. Later, I brined the chops for 30 minutes. After panfrying, I made a pan sauce of shallot, white dry vermouth, homemade chicken stock, all reduced and mounted with butter to finish. The flavors were delicious.

I was going to post this under the ingredients category of the forum, but was unable to start a new discussion. Maybe a glitch?

Thanks!

Your brine and pan sauce sounds delicious Jeanne. My personal experience has been that I used to buy loin chops or double loin thinking I was buying the best because they were the most expensive. Now I only buy rib chops as they have lots more fat and flavour . I have some slow roasting in the oven right now after browning them, then browning onions, carrots and garlic, adding some flour and deglazing with white wine and homemade chicken stock. My husband fast fries them and also barbecues them with great success.

Thanks, Liz, it was good. I'm going to take a closer look at the pork chops in the market and see what's available. These were called center cut loin pork chops, boneless, like in the video, regular thickness, not super thin, but not thick cut either.

I can't seem to find a grocery store that carries cumin seeds. Can I use a little ground cumin for the marinade, or will that mess up the recipe?

Thanks,
Michelle

You could use a bit of cumin powder. But next time you see cumin seeds be sure to pick some up as using the whole seed rather than powdered does make a difference, especially when cooking certain dishes. Cheers!