STOVETOP PORK CHOPS

No, no, no, not THAT stove top...literally, just some simple pork chops in a pan and finished with a rosemary, thyme sauce. Along side are some zucchini, squash, green beans and cherry tomatoes and some brown rice for a nice well rounded weekday dinner for mama and baby.

4 bone on pork chops
1 zucchini diced
1 squash diced
1 handful of green beans trimmed and blanched
1 handful of cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup of brown rice
thyme and rosemary for seasoning
1 cup of chicken stock
1 tbs butter
1 shallot
canola oil

Get your pork chops out of the fridge about forty minutes before you are ready to cook them.  Once you are ready to go, make sure you pat them dry with some paper towels to get a good sear.  If you leave them sweaty, they will steam in the pan rather than char and sear.  Season with salt and pepper and onto a medium hot pan.

Get your veg prepped by slicing up the zuch and squash.  These are the seed membranes from the squash which I've just recently started removing.  They are a little slimy and mushy and don't add much flavor or nutrition.

MEDIUM HEAT.  It makes sense to think that the hotter the pan, the better the sear.  But this is not the case.  You want the meat to have some time on the pan to get a nice deep sear.  If the pan is too hot, the surface of the meat burns quickly and is very difficult to recover from.  If you start medium, you can really monitor and coax your sear.

Blanche the beans for just a few minutes, until they begin to become tender since they will still cook a little in the saute pan with the other veggies.  No ice bath needed either, I just scoop them out of this pot, and into the pan with the other veggies.

Medium-low heat with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Take a bite of one of the veggies to check your seasoning.  Add the tomatoes at the end and cook until just plump.

Nice golden sear without burning will allow me to make a sweet sauce once these babies are done.  About 4-5 minutes per side then onto a plate to rest while making the sauce.

Shallots into the pan for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the stock and start reducing.

 Reduce the sauce down for five minutes add the herbs for the last minute along with a tablespoon of butter to finish off the sauce.

sauce side bar:  Season the sauce

 with salt and pepper and taste it.

  Make sure you are tasting this BEFORE

 its all over your pork chop. 

 Just a little taste will do,

 if it doesn't taste good on a spoon,

 it won't be any better on your plate.

Put some rice down, then the chop on top.  Surround with your veggies and sauce the chop and rice.  Yum.