On Chewing The Fat, the recipes really do come from everywhere. However in this case, it came from closer to home–our own kitchen. I had an intense desire for a Pork Chop and not one of those boneless half inch deals swathed in plastic wrap. I wanted the Pork Chop sold from behind the butcher’s counter at my local Fairway. This is a big, thick bone-in chop, with a lovely coating of fat circling the juicy pink center. It’s rather like a big pork steak. And there’s something really satisfying in opening up a butcher-paper wrapped package and seeing your purchase against a background of waxed paper. Come to think of it, buying at the butcher counter, avoiding that Styrofoam container and the plastic wrap of the meat case, is terrifically satisfying. Especially as New York banned ‘single use Styrofoam containers’ the first of the year. The Styrofoam cup and the clamshell take-out container were supposed to go the way of the Dodo. Somehow, supermarkets must be exempt. And for all the talk about “organic” and “Non GMO” there’s an astonishing amount of Styrofoam and plastic period in our food packaging even at stores that proclaim their fondness for all things ‘natural’. Alright, I’ll get off my 
soapbox and get back to the recipe, but try it for yourself. Buy the chops at the counter not from the case and see if you don’t feel better.
I generally poke around for a recipe which I did here. But I had another goal in the kitchen. I really wanted to work with what we had in the fridge. I’d bought some wonderful baby bella mushrooms. I had a bin full of shallots. And I had an almost full bag of baby spinach. So dinner almost made itself. This isn’t a time-consuming recipe at all. Even though I made it our “Sunday dinner”, I was out of the kitchen in about a half hour. It starts on the stove where the chops get a beautiful brown on 
both sides. It then moves the chops to another skillet and into the oven, where they will finish cooking. Remember, these are big boys and need the cooking time. The original skillet, with the pork flavor and fat, got called into service to sauté the shallots. I added chicken stock to deglaze the pan, some Dijon mustard, parsley and then the sliced mushrooms. A little more seasoning and finally, once the mushrooms had cooked for all of five minutes, I put the spinach in the pan. It cooked away in the broth until it was perfectly wilted. Spread over the plate, it was the perfect perch for the glistening brown pork chop. I made this for two. If you are serving four people, just double the recipe. And here it is.
Thick Cut Pork Chops with Mushrooms, Shallots and Spinach
A great big beautifully browned pork chop sits atop a melange of mushrooms, shallots and spinach.
Ingredients
- 1 tsp. unsalted butter
- 2 Pork Loin Chops Bone In, sliced 1 1/2 inches thick
- 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
- Fresh Black Pepper
- 3 shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Chicken Stock
- 8 oz. Baby Bella Mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- 1 -6 oz bag of Baby Spinach
- 2 tbsp. chopped, fresh Parsley
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 2 In a large skillet, heat the butter over moderately low heat.
- Step 3 Season the pork chops generously with salt and pepper.
- Step 4 Raise the heat to medium and add the pork chops to the pan, and sauté for 7 minutes.
- Step 5 Turn the chops over and saute for an additional 7 to 8 minutes or until the pork is browned to your liking.
- Step 6 Remove the chops from the skillet and put them into another pan.
- Step 7 Put the pan in the 350 degree oven.
- Step 8 Add shallots to the original pan and cook, serving until they are soft, about 3 minutes.
- Step 9 Add the stock to deglaze the pain. Stir in the mustard, 1 tbsp. parsley, then add the mushrooms, season with fresh pepper and cook about 3 to 5 minutes or until the mushrooms are cooked.
- Step 10 Add the spinach and cook until it has just wilted about 3 minutes.
- Step 11 Take the pork chops out of the oven. With an internal thermometer, check that the pork is cooked to 160 degree in the center.
- Step 12 Put the mushroom mixture onto plates. Put a pork chop atop each plate. Serve at once.
