I ended up with a surprise pomegranate in one of my recent produce baskets, so I picked out this meal to use it up since I also had some pork chops in the freezer that I was hoping to find a use for. The pork chops and brussels sprouts were both quite good, and a few accordion potatoes rounded out the meal.

I appreciate how quickly and easily this meal came together and that it only requires the use of a single pan. I ended up having to substitute pine nuts for the pistachios. I normally keep a bag of pistachios on hand in the freezer, but I must've used them all up at some point and forgot to get more. I think the pine nuts worked well, but pistachios would've been even better.

Sadly, the Kidlet wasn't a big fan of the brussels sprouts -- which actually ended up being a combination of brussels sprouts and cabbage for us because I didn't have as many sprouts as the recipe called for -- but she was a fan of the pork.

The original recipe calls for cooking the pork chops in oil, but I had a jar of bacon grease in the fridge, so I ended up using that instead. I highly recommend this approach if you have any bacon fat kicking around. And I bet lard would also work great. If you don't have either of those, then I'm sure any neutral oil will do just fine.

One-Pan Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts

Slightly adapted from Cook's Country October/November 2019

Ingredients

• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, divided
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 4 bone-in pork chops (~250g each)
• 2 Tbsp. bacon fat
• 680g brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 1/4 c. water
• 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar¹
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. fresh pomegranate arils/seeds
• 2 Tbsp. pistachios, toasted and chopped

directions

1. Grind 3/8 tsp. of the salt with 1/4 tsp. of the peppercorns and mix in the ground chilies.²
2. Pat the pork chops dry and sprinkle them with the salt mixture on both sides.
3. Melt the bacon fat in a large pan over medium-high heat.
4. Add the pork chops (cook in batches if necessary) and cook until nicely browned on both sides and cooked all the way through (10-12 minutes), flipping every 2 minutes. Internal temperature should register 60°C (140°F).
5. Remove chops from pan and set aside. (Optionally tent with aluminum foil to help hold the heat.)
6. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp. of fat from the pan.³
7. Place the brussels sprouts in the pan cut side down.
8. Add the water and remaining 3/8 tsp. of salt.
9. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for 4 minutes.
10. Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes.
11. Give sprouts a good stir and cook for 1-2 minutes longer.
12. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar, remaining 1/4 tsp. of pepper, pomegranate, and pistachios.
13. Serve sprouts and chops together along with your favourite starch (rice, potatoes, etc.).

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¹ Whoops! I just realized that I totally misread this line of the recipe and only put 2 teaspoons of vinegar rather than 2 tablespoons! Oh well... it was still tasty. ^Back
2 The pork chops were great with just the little bit of salt, pepper, and cayenne called for in the recipe, but it occurred to me while doing this write-up that it might be fun to experiemnt with a more complex spice rub like the one I used for my barbecued chicken a while back. I believe that rub was concoted with pork in mind, in fact. I'm not sure how it'd do in a pan on quick-cooking chops as opposed to on the grill on slow-cooked ribs, but I'd be interested to find out! I think my main concern would be burning the sugar. But I'm sure that the right pan at the right temperature could help avoid that. ^Back
3 If you're not confident eyeballing the amount of fat left in the pan, you can always pour off all the fat and then measure out 2 Tbsp. to add back in. ^Back