Growing up in the south, I’ve eaten my fair share of pork chops. Mostly fried and always overcooked, pork chops are a southern staple. However, with USDA lowering the safe cooking temp of pork to 145°F in May of 2011, juicy pork is more popular than ever!
For me, I still love a good bone-in pork chop coated in flour and fried crisp with a side of rice & tomato gravy, but my kids are another story. They prefer the less-work, boneless version (and they don’t like rice & tomato gravy either!), so to appease the masses, I come up with modern spins on my good ole southern pork chop.
For this pork chop recipe, which also doubled as a date night dinner, I broke out three of my husbands favorite ingredients–bourbon, brown sugar, and mustard. Combined into a glaze and then, poured over the chops before a quick roast under the broiler, these pork chops might be the easiest dish I’ve created in a while.
Ingredients
- 1/4 c. brown sugar
- 1/4 c. bourbon (does not have to be expensive, sipping bourbon)
- 1/4 c. yellow prepared mustard
- pinch of red pepper flakes (we prefer it spicy, so I use a couple of pinches!)
- 2 boneless pork chops
- salt, pepper, garlic powder
- olive oil
Instructions
- In a small sauce pan, combine brown sugar, bourbon, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 5-7 minutes. Do not let it boil over. If the mixture seems to thicken too quickly, splash it with a bit more bourbon.
- Heat a cast iron skillet drizzled with olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking hot.
- Coat both sides of pork chops with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Then, fry in the hot skillet for 1 minute or until nicely crusted and brown. Turn pork chops once. Cook for another minute. Remove from heat.
- Dip pork chops in the bourbon glaze and place on a foil lined cookie sheet. Broil for 2 minutes or until the glaze begins to bubble. Remove from the broiler and allow to rest before slicing. (Pork chop cooking will vary depending on thickness. Mine were 1/2-3/4 inch thick).
- Sides: Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrot-Potato Mash
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