Brined Pork Chops

I'm a good cook.  I know what goes well together, I love experimenting with new flavors and ingredients, I can follow a recipe or make up my own with great success.  One thing though I've never been able to do, no matter how often I try and how many different recipes I find, is to make moist, juicy pork chops.

Until now...

Success with bon appetit!

Locally farmed pork

Make the brine by bringing 2 cups of water to a boil then add 1/2 cup salt,  1/2 cup white sugar, 1 tsp juniper berries,  1/2 tsp whole black peppercorns, 5 halved cloves of garlic and 1 sprig of thyme.  Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar.  

Transfer to a bowl large enough to hold your pork chops and add 5 cups of ice cubes to the boiling brine. Stir until all the ice is melted then add your pork chops. Cover them and let sit in the fridge for 8 - 12 hours.

I didn't go into this recipe with high hopes, as evident by my blurry, quick snapped photos

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove chops from the brine and pat dry.  Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large cast iron or any oven proof pan on medium-high heat.  Cook the chops on one side in the oil until they begin to brown  (3 - 4 minutes).  Turn them over and cook the other side until it begins to brown (2 - 3 minutes).  Continue to cook the chops in the pan, flipping them every 2 minutes until they are a deep golden brown.  The recipe says 10 - 12 minutes but depending on the thickness of your chops it may take less or more time, just watch they aren't getting over done.  

When your chops are nice and golden on both sides move your pan into the oven and roast them about 10 minutes.  Turn them every 2 minutes to prevent them from browning too quickly.  Remove them from the oven when they get to  135 degrees.  ( They will continue to cook during the next steps)

I didn't have a cast iron pan so I put them on a cookie sheet after they were browned in the frying pan

Drain the fat from your pan and place over medium heat.  Add 3 Tbsp butter, 2 minced garlic cloves, and another sprig of thyme.  Baste the chops as the butter cooks, cook until butter is foamy (2 - 3 minutes)  Remove from the heat and let the pork chops rest 15 minutes before serving.

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Next time I may omit the oven step and continue to cook them in the cast iron pan.  It seemed to be an extra step that you could do without.  On the other hand though, these chops pretty much melted in your mouth and had such an amazing flavor that I'm cautious to mess with a successful recipe!

Weight Watcher points per pork chop - 10 points