Pork Chops in Lemon-Caper Sauce

This week Toni Tipton-Martin released her new cookbook, "Jubilee: Recipes from Two Centuries of African-American Cooking. Sam Sifton, a New York Times food writer (and one of my personal favorites), called this recipe from Toni's book "glorious and elegant" and heralded it as his new favorite recipe. As soon as I finish this blog, it's off to my neighborhood grocery store (Jerry's) to gather the ingredients as tonight this is what's for supper in the Gruggen household!


Ingredients
4 bone-in pork chops (8 ounces each)
Kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 small shallot, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
1-1/2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons drained capers
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

1. Dry the chops with paper towels and season aggressively with salt, pepper and the thyme. Swirl the olive oil into a large skillet and heat over medium until the oil begins to shimmer. Add chops, and cook until well browned on each side and cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chops to a plate, and cover to keep warm.
2. Drain the fat from the skillet, then melt 2 tablespoons of butter in it over medium heat until sizzling. Add the shallot and garlic and sauté until the aromatics soften, reducing the heat if necessary, about 1 minute. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Whisk in the wine and chicken stock, raise heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, until the liquid is reduced by half, 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir in the capers, parsley, lemon zest and juice and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter until it’s melted and the sauce looks smooth. Nestle the pork chops into the sauce and allow them to warm up for a couple of minutes, then serve, pouring sauce over each pork chop to taste. Garnish with more fresh parsley.

Wine pairing: Merlot

Grogs and Goldie, 1956