Cranberry Pork Chops, thick succulent pork chops browned in a cast iron skillet on top of the stove, covered with whole cranberry sauce, a sprig of rosemary and finished off in the oven. Perfect for a Thanksgiving alternative from traditional turkey.
Pork chops are a favorite around our house. We like them fried, grilled, smothered, in casseroles and just about any way you can cook them. We do prefer the bone in pork chops for grilling and frying because they are juicier. The boneless ones have their place though, like in casseroles and dishes that are served with sauces.
My twin sister shared with me how she made some thick boneless ones with a covering of cranberry sauce. That sounded so good I had to give them a try. I spotted some thick bone in pork chops at Sams and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.
Here are three great tips on how to cook pork chops where they are full of flavor and juicy like the top chefs do in the fine restaurants.
One is to use a dry brine on them while they are coming to room temperature before laying them in a hot skillet, at least 30 minutes to one hour.
Second is to cook them on high heat till you get a good golden crust then turn the heat down to medium and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.
The third is to let the pork chop set for at least 10 minutes or so. The juices will stay distributed in the meat and not run all on the serving dish.
These pork chops were not only succulent and flavorful they were gorgeous enough to be served in any fine restaurant. Which I think would be a perfect dish to serve for Thanksgiving. They have all the looks and grandeur of any Turkey if I say so myself.
We loved them so much we made them twice in one month. I hope you will give these pork chops a try soon if not for your Thanksgiving meal. Enjoy!
Yield: 4-6
Cranberry Pork Chops
Thick succulent pork chops browned in a cast iron skillet on the stovetop, covered with whole cranberry sauce, a sprig of rosemary and finished off in the oven. Perfect for a Thanksgiving alternative from traditional turkey.
prep time: 1 hourcook time: 30 MINStotal time: 1 hours and 30 mins
ingredients:
- 4 thick bone in pork chops
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
- 1 (14 oz.) can whole cranberry sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2-3 rosemary sprigs
instructions
- Remove the pork chops from the refrigerator( and use a dry brine of salt and black pepper.) Immediately sprinkle liberally with salt on both sides of the pork chops. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper on one side of each pork chops. Place on a rimmed baking pan and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove from the rimmed baking pan and rinse dry brine from pork chops well. Place on clean rimmed baking sheet and pat dry.
- In a large cast iron skillet or a large heavy gauge skillet (around 12-inches) on high, pour tablespoon to 2 tablespoons olive and heat until hot but not smoking.
- Place pork chops in hot skillet and cook them without moving them until they are brown around the edges and easily release from the skillet with a golden brown crust, 3 or 4 minutes. Turn them over and cook the other sides the same for 3 or 4 minutes.
- Turn the heat off. Spoon a 1/4 of a can of cranberry sauce evenly over the top of each pork chop. Lay sprigs of rosemary across the top of the cranberry sauce. Add a tablespoon of butter on the top of each pork chop.
- Place skillet of pork chops in the preheated oven and cook for 15 to 25 minutes or until the pork chops are good and done. The cooking time will depend on the thickness of the pork chops. Mine took 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.
notes
Additional seasoning can be added after pat drying the pork chops. We found that the brine was sufficient amount of seasoning for us.
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