Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Dijon Cream Sauce

These juicy Pan-Seared Pork Chops are encapsulated in a crisp golden-brown crust and drizzled with a savory Dijon Cream Sauce.

Pop quiz people! What do you call a pig with laryngitis? Disgruntled. GET IT? Dis-grunt-led. Man, that joke sucked, who writes this crap? If you want to impress a special someone, maybe we should stick to cooking. My standup may not have people eating out of the palm of your hand but these Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Dijon Cream Sauce certainly will. If that is your thing. Why would you feed people out of your hand? Creeper...

You don't need to frequent a high-end chop house to enjoy a meaty pork chop cooked to mouthwatering perfection. It is actually much easier than you may fear.

How to Pan-Sear Pork Chops

Forming a crisp golden-brown crust is the foundation of the perfect pan-seared pork chop. To do this literally requires no work. You simply need to let the chop cook. Don't flip it, turn it, move it. Simply stick your hands in your pockets and let the searing hot oil in the pan do the work. This not only makes the meat more appealing, it is building more complex flavors by browning the proteins in the meat.

Meat often sticks to the pan while it is being seared. However, once it has been properly seared it will release itself from the pan, allowing you to easily flip it. I always recommend using stainless steel or cast iron pans for searing. It will form a better crust on the meat and leave you with delicious burnt fond on the bottom of the pan that will add a lot of flavor to your final pan sauce.

How to Make Dijon Cream Sauce

The Dijon Cream Sauce takes only a few minutes to create and can be done while the pork chops finish in the oven. Adding chicken broth to the sauce not only adds flavor, but it is a great liquid to use for deglazing the skillet the chops were seared in. With the pan empty, but still piping hot, add the chicken broth and scrape the fond (burnt bits) off the bottom of the pan. It will dissolve into the liquid, adding immense flavor. 

The biggest problem people have when making cream sauces is the final consistency. The chief complaint being the final sauce is too thin. If this happens to you, the solution is SIMPLE. Cook it longer. As you simmer the sauce liquid is evaporating, this is what causes the sauce to thicken. If your sauce is too thin it just needs more liquid to cook out. Alternatively, if your sauce thickens too much you can always correct it by adding a small splash of water. This truth can be adapted to every other sauce, soup, or stew you cook as well.

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