Easy Creamy Pork Chops

March is almost here and I can feel it in my bones — literally, because my knees are predicting the weather now, which is a skill I did not ask for but which is apparently included in the sixty-two-year-old starter kit. When the barometric pressure drops, my left knee aches like someone is squeezing it. When rain is coming, both knees protest. I am a human weather station. Denise says I should see a specialist. I say my knees are the specialists and they're telling me it's going to rain on Thursday. (It rained on Thursday.)

Earl and I celebrated our anniversary this week. Forty-two years on February 28th. I made his mother's pork chops again — buttermilk dip, flour and seasoning, fried in the cast iron. The tradition that started in his mother's kitchen in 1976 and lives in mine now. He ate two chops and closed his eyes and said, "Mama's chops." I said, "Your mama taught me and I listened." Same exchange we have every year. Same words, same meaning, same love. The repetition is not boring. The repetition is the architecture. You build a marriage the way you build a house — the same bricks, the same mortar, the same foundation, year after year, and the house stands because the bricks don't change.

The seedlings are ready to harden off. Next week I'll start setting them outside during the day — the tomatoes, the peppers, the herbs. The garden beds are prepped — I turned the compost in last weekend, added lime to the soil, and everything is waiting. The garden is patient. I am learning to be patient from my garden, which is ironic because I am the least patient person I know and the garden knows it and is teaching me anyway.

At school, the Local Fresh Initiative got a mention in the Savannah Morning News. A reporter came to Hodge and interviewed me in my kitchen. She asked how long I'd been cooking for children. I said, "Thirty-three years." She asked why. I said, "Because a hungry child can't learn and a fed child can, and I decided a long time ago that every child in my kitchen was going to be fed." She wrote that down. I hope she kept it. It's the truest thing I've ever said.

Now go on and feed somebody.

I’ve told you about Earl’s mother’s chops — the buttermilk, the cast iron, the ritual of it — and I want to give you something you can take home and make your own. This creamy skillet version is the everyday companion to that anniversary tradition: same pan, same patience, same idea that a pork chop done right is one of the most honest meals you can put on a table. Forty-two years of anniversaries have taught me that the recipes worth keeping are the ones that don’t try too hard. Make this one on a Wednesday. Make it on a birthday. Make it whenever somebody at your table needs to feel taken care of.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil or lard
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Season the chops. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Mix together garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper and rub evenly over both sides of each chop.
Sear in the pan. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add pork chops and sear without moving them for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until a deep golden crust forms. Transfer to a plate and set aside — they will finish cooking in the sauce.
Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add butter to the same skillet. Once melted, add minced garlic and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute until fragrant. Do not let it burn.
Deglaze and simmer. Pour in the chicken broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan — that’s flavor. Stir in the heavy cream, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Finish the chops. Nestle the pork chops back into the skillet. Spoon the sauce over the top. Simmer uncovered on medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the chops are cooked through (internal temperature of 145°F) and the sauce has thickened slightly.
Rest and serve. Let the chops rest in the pan for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon the cream sauce generously over each chop and finish with fresh parsley. Serve with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or whatever will soak up every bit of that sauce.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Creamy Pork Chops — The Recipe That Holds a Marriage Together