Buttermilk Mushroom Pork Chops

New Year's Eve, and the ritual continues — Hoppin' John on the stove, champagne in the refrigerator, the annual marking of time that the disease has made both more and less meaningful. More meaningful because every year Mama is here is a year I did not expect and do not take for granted. Less meaningful because Mama does not know the year is changing, and the not-knowing strips the holiday of its urgency, its countdown, its midnight kiss. Robert and I toasted at midnight on the piazza, the fireworks distant and beautiful, and the toasting was for us, for the year we survived, for the five hundred meals I cooked and the thousand hours Robert spent in the workshop and the ten thousand hymns Mama hummed in a kitchen that held it all.

2020 is over. The year of the pandemic, the year of confinement, the year that taught me that the kitchen is both prison and freedom and that the difference between the two is not the room but the reason you are in it. I was in it for love. The love made it freedom. And the freedom, in a year when nothing else was free, was the miracle.

I made Hoppin' John — black-eyed peas, rice, ham hock, the annual prayer disguised as a meal. The peas promised luck. The rice promised abundance. And the cooking promised continuity, which is the only promise I make that I know I can keep.

The ham hock in the Hoppin’ John does its quiet work all day, and when New Year’s passes and the peas are gone, I find myself reaching for pork again in the days that follow — not out of ritual this time, but out of the same instinct that made me start the pot to begin with: the need to feed people I love with something that takes its time. These Buttermilk Mushroom Pork Chops have become my answer to that hunger in the ordinary week after the prayers have been said. The buttermilk tenderizes the way a long year does — slowly, quietly, making something stronger out of something that started uncertain — and the mushroom sauce is the kind of deep, earthy comfort that reminds me why I stay in that kitchen for love.

Prep Time: 15 min (plus 30 min marinating) | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min active | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick (approximately 8 oz each)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
10 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Marinate the chops. Combine buttermilk, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a shallow dish or zip-top bag. Add the pork chops, turn to coat, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 8 hours. The longer they soak, the more tender they become.
Bring to room temperature and pat dry. Remove the chops from the buttermilk and let them sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Pat thoroughly dry with paper towels — this is the step that gets you a proper sear rather than a steam.
Sear the chops. Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season chops lightly with remaining salt and pepper. Sear 4 to 5 minutes per side without moving them, until deep golden brown and the internal temperature reads 140°F. Transfer to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
Build the mushroom sauce. Reduce heat to medium. Add butter to the same skillet. Once melted, add the sliced mushrooms in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, then stir and cook another 2 to 3 minutes until deeply browned. Season with a pinch of salt.
Add garlic and deglaze. Add the minced garlic to the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 1 minute until fragrant. Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan — that’s where the flavor lives.
Finish the sauce. Stir in the heavy cream and thyme. Let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Return the chops and rest. Nestle the pork chops back into the skillet, spooning sauce over the top. Cook 2 to 3 minutes more until the chops are heated through and the internal temperature reaches 145°F. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes before serving.
Garnish and serve. Scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve with rice, mashed potatoes, or buttered egg noodles to catch every drop of the sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Buttermilk Mushroom Pork Chops — The Pork That Carries the Prayer Forward