At the beginning of September, Andy got an unexpected phone call. It was from our “Pig Guy”. Several years ago we’d bought a half of a pig from this person, and we loved every bit of it. We’ve talked on and off how we’d love to get a whole pig from this guy sometime, but we never heard back from him again. I honestly wondered if he’d decided not to raise pigs anymore. But then Andy got a phone call- he had pigs that were going into the butcher at the end of September, and were we interested. Uh, hello!? Absolutely! Just over two weeks ago, Andy brought our pig home from the butcher and we popped all these gorgeous packages in the freezer.
One of the things that it seems to me that we got a lot of was pork chops. I think we put 15 packages of chops in the freezer- all with 4 chops a piece. We don’t normally buy a lot of pork chops these days because they’ve gotten pretty cost prohibitive. So this was one item that I was very excited to have in abundance to cook with. The very first thing I made with a package of pork chops is a recipe that I received from the $5 Dinner Plan, a recipe for Pork Chops with Cranberry-Mustard Sauce. It was a perfect pantry dinner, because I have several pounds of cranberries in the freezer from last year. I added some simple mashed potatoes and green beans and we had a fantastic fall-inspired dinner.
I did make changes to the original recipe, and my recipe below will reflect those changes. The biggest change I made was that I used only half of the sugar called for. For the spicy mustard I used a whole grain style mustard, and I accidentally left off the cinnamon. They were delicious as I made them, and I can’t imagine using a sweeter cranberry sauce- I think it would be cloyingly sweet. Also, I decided to give the chops a sear in a pan on the stove before putting them in the oven to finish with the sauce. I think the browning added a layer of flavor to the pork and also kept the juices in the chops. As I’m thinking about this recipe today, it’s sure open to other ideas and incorporations. I think adding a sliced, sweet onion to the bottom of the baking dish would be a delicious addition and would work great with the cranberry and mustard flavors.
Overall, a winner. Three out of four of us enjoyed this very much. I don’t think Zander even took a bite of his pork chop, I think the thick layer of cranberries on top scared him off. Next time I would just bake a chop in the pan without the chunky sauce on top for him.
Pork Chops with Cranberry-Mustard Sauce
4 pork chops (bone in) salt and pepper olive oil 6 ounces fresh cranberries (half a bag) 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup waterDirections:
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Lightly drizzle a baking pan with olive oil and set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the cranberries, mustard, sugar and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the cranberries have burst and the sauce begins to thicken. (About 20 minutes.)
Bring a saute pan to medium heat and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle the pork chops lightly with salt and pepper and place in the saute pan. Cook for 3 minutes per side- or until the are lightly browned on each side. They will not be cooked through- we just want some caramelization on those chops. Add the pork chops to the prepared baking dish.
Divide the cranberry mixture evenly among the pork chops. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.
Cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of your pork chops.