Balancing flavors brings Oven-baked Pork Chops with Mushrooms to life

Pork chops get a major weeknight-quick flavor boost from mushrooms and lemon. Recipe below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]I[/su_dropcap]’ve been reading a new book on food and cooking that has me rethinking flavors and balance—How to Taste, by Becky Selengut. We’ll explore the book more here soon, but I’m already using things I’m learning, like with this busy-weeknight-you’ve-got-two-porkchops-go! dish.

Pork chops are an easy weeknight dish. It can be as simple as salt, pepper, pan and done. But that can be kind of dull. Selengut’s approach to fixing dull (or why doesn’t this taste better?) is to introduce various flavor elements—sweet, umami, acid, fat (and others)—that balance or enhance what’s already going on. The acid particularly intrigued me. I’m happy to add wine or lemon juice or even vinegar to a dish when a recipe calls for it, but it rarely occurs to me that a dish that’s falling flat may need some acid.

Armed with this basic idea, I decided to up my pork chop game, while still keeping it weeknight-quick and easy. Mushrooms cooked in butter elevated the natural umami of the chops. And the lemon juice and zest brought everything to life. Seriously. The garlic and tarragon added their own subtle qualities, but the mushrooms and lemon defined the dish. You’ll note I don’t sauté the mushrooms for very long. Usually, you let them cook long enough to exude their natural juices and let those cook off. But they continue to cook in the oven, and those juices add to the surprising amount of sauce in the pan at the end—and to the chops not drying out.

Another fun fact about mushrooms is that they are sponges, soaking up flavors around them. They offer the biggest lemony pops when you eat this. So spear a mushroom slice along with a bite of meat to get the full tart/umami taste.

Oven-baked Pork Chops with Mushrooms
Serves 2

2 inch-thick pork chops, preferably bone-in (see Kitchen Notes)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 to 5 ounces sliced crimini mushrooms (or button mushrooms)
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 large clove garlic, minced
zest and juice of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons or more of juice)

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Heat olive oil in a large, oven-safe skillet over medium-high flame. Season chops generously on both sides with salt and pepper. When skillet is good and hot, add chops and sear on both sides, 4 to 5 minutes per side (when you turn the chops, reduce heat to medium). Transfer chops to plate.

Slice butter into skillet and melt, swirling to combine with oil and rendered fat from chops. Add mushrooms and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Add tarragon, garlic and lemon zest to pan and stir to combine. Stir lemon juice into pan and return chops to pan along with any accumulated juices.

Transfer pan to oven and bake uncovered until chops are just cooked through, about 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should read at least 145ºF for medium-rare, 160ºF for medium. Plate chops and spoon mushrooms and sauce over them. Serve.

Kitchen Notes

Bone? No bone? Thick? Thin? Bone-in chops seem to be a little more flavorful than boneless, but boneless are fine. For bone-in chops, they should be about 8 ounces or more. Boneless should be about 6 ounces or so. Thick chops (1 inch or so) will be nice and juicy when cooked as above. If you can only find thinner chops, reduce your oven time for cooking—8 to 10 minutes should probably do.