Thyme & Mustard Pork Chops

The Goods:

Brine
2000 grams water
100 grams kosher salt*
4 cloves garlic
1 small bunch thyme
2 tsp mustard (country-style)
2 bay leaves
2 tsp rice wine vinegar

The Rest
2 pork chops, ~1" thick
1 tbsp flour, plus some extra
1 tbsp butter
some canola or other high heat oil
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard
1 small bunch thyme
4ish crimini mushrooms
some parsley
1 shallot
1 cup water/stock

To compose the brine, add the water (hot tap) to a large container. The hot water will help the salt fully dissolve. Alternatively, you can heat cold water on the stove, but I find that the water is then so hot, one must wait for it to cool, and this can take a while. Add in the salt, stir it up until all has dissolved. Add the remaining brine ingredients and the pork chops. Be sure they are fully covered by the brine liquid. Transfer to the fridge and brine as long as you like**.

After the pork chops have finished brining, pat them dry. Dredge in some flour, patting of the excess. Place the oil in a skillet and set to medium-high heat. Once the oil has heated, add the pork chops. The goal is to cook them through and develop a good crust while not burning the exterior. I found that 6 minutes per side on medium high heat (6 on the dial, on my unreliable electric stove) cooked the chops (still slightly pink in the center) and gave a non-burned crust. This will vary depending on chop thickness, the pan, and your stove's flakiness. Slice the mushrooms thin. Mince the shallot, thyme (taking care to separate the leafy part from the hard stems), and parsley. Set the butter in a small bowl. When it is soft, add the 1 tsb flour and mix until they are incorporated nicely***. When the chops are cooked, remove them from the pan and set aside in a dish.

Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the mushrooms. After about 2 minutes add the shallots, then the herbs. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the water/stock (deglaze, deglaze, deglase!), the lemon juice, and the mustard. Once this has heated up (~1 minute), add the flour/butter mixture. Serve over the pork chop.




Now with pic-goodness. Here is the completely chop, with salad and rice.


*Ok, ok, ok. Yes, I know, weights are slightly annoying. The goal here is to make a 5 % (by weight) salt solution. Scales are a fine investment. You can do it by volume, its roughly 2 liters, and I hear a 1/3 cup of kosher salt is roughly (seriously, this was highly estimated) 50 grams.

**I brined for 2 hours. I've seen recipes that talk of over night brining for pork chops, though I imagine the thickness matters here. I'm sure it is possible to over brine them, but I wouldn't begin to know the exact cutoff point.

***This is another gem I found in Ratio. This is a beurre manié, which to me is a poor (read: lazy) man's roux. Adding this will achieve instant sauce thickening, without the foul flour clumps. Plus, adding butter to anything makes it better.