Pan Seared Pork Chops with Meyer Lemon

It’s the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., and hopefully you’ve got some good soup stock simmering on the stove, made with the leftover carcass from all that turkey you gobbled down yesterday.
A lot of people complain that pork chops are too dry, but that’s mostly because they’re cooked too long. Cook just until the meat feels springy, and there’s some “give” to the meat.
Here’s another way to test doneness. Make a fist. The pork chop should sort of feel like the piece of flesh at the base of the thumb where it attaches to your hand (before the thumb reaches the wrist).
If the pork chop is a teensy bit pink, it’s ok.
Don’t cook it too long, or you’ll be eating a hard, overcooked piece of meat.
Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Meyer Lemon
(Costole di Maiale in Padella)
From Domenica Marchetti’s “Rustic Italian” cookbook
printable recipe here
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
4 fresh bay leaves, or 6 dried bay leaves
2 Meyer lemons, 1 thinly sliced and 1 halved
4 bone-in, center-cut pork chops, 6-8 oz. each
(I used 2 very thick pork chops that weighed 1.5 lbs. total)
1/2 cup dry white wine
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper
In a large cast-iron or other heavy-bottomed frying pan, heat the olive oil, garlic and bay leaves over medium-low heat. Sauté until the garlic is lightly golden and the oil is infused with the aroma of garlic and bay leaf, about 5 minutes. Transfer the garlic and bay leaves to a plate and set aside. Return the pan to the heat and add the lemon slices. Cook, turning once, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to the plate with the garlic and bay leaves.
Season the pork with salt and pepper. Arrange in the pan and raise the heat to medium high. Sear until nicely browned on the bottom, 2-3 minutes. Turn the chops and cook until browned on the other side, 2-3 minutes longer. Since my two pork chops were very thick, I decided to add some white wine at this point to Domenica’s recipe to help them cook more quickly. Let the wine boil down for a minute. Squeeze the lemon halves over the chops and turn to coat them with the juice. Return the garlic, bay leaves and lemon slices to the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook (with a lid, if the chops are very thick, as mine were) until the chops are cooked through – 3-4 minutes longer. The pork chop should spring back but still feel tender if gently pressed with a finger, and the center should be very slightly pink.
Transfer the pork chops to a serving platter and spoon the pan juices, along with the lemon slices, over the top. Serve right away.
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come sai qui a Trieste la carne di maiale è ottima, ottima occasione per provare a fare la tua ricetta! Un abbraccio
I am terrible at pork chops….they are always dry……however, I love Rustic Italian, and everything I have made has been a winner, so will give it another go!
They look delicious! I love pork chops.
Cheers,
Rosa
We love our pork and now that it's cold out grilling is rare. Great recipe to make and luckily we have a potted bay leaf and we have plenty of leaves. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Our kids and grandkids said everything was delicious — I don't remember a thing 🙁 I was so busy trying to make sure everyone had enough. Oh, well. There's always next year. Have a wonderful weekend and I'm not going out on Black Friday — I'm not that brave.
One thing I never have around is fresh bay leaves, I will look for some and make this, we love our pork chops! Love the squash with it, so pretty
We can never get enough pork in my family and of course Domenica's recipes are always so delicious. I love the lemon added to this! I am anxious to try this recipe very soon. Thanks for preparing and sharing Linda!
Looks awfully tasty! A pork chop can be a beautiful thing, especially if it has a decent amount of fat to make it nice and juicy. (Not always easy to find these days!)
We've been doing pork chops about once a week for change. I forgot how wonderful they are. We've been doing it with fruit sauces. This is a great break from the fruit – loving all that garlic and lemon. On my menu for the week.
I always have pork chops in my freezer, as they are a favorite meal. I never tried cooing them with lemons. I'll definitely try that next time–I just bought a bag of Meyer lemons!
Hi Linda. These pork chops look so succulent. I have never paired pork with lemon but love Meyers with anything so I am looking forward to trying these! I am the blogger you met at the Jhumpa Lahiri lecture tonight. I write at Frenchgardenerdishes.com
Johanne Lamarche
My husband is not crazy about pork chops but I love them and love this recipe! Will try it soon! Thanks