Honey Mustard Pork Chops (for two)

 

I don't eat a lot of red meat usually.  I probably eat more chicken and fish than anything else, and I have many days where I don't eat any kind of meat at all.  

Every now and then I do enjoy a nice pork chop however. I saw a package of pork chops in my local shop the other day and they looked lovely. Nice, well marbled and thick with a lovely fatty edge and a nice big medallion of the tenderloin attached on the side of the bone.

 

There was only two chops in the package, so I knew I could make myself a lovely pork chop meal on one day and freeze one for another time.  

Pork is rapidly becoming one of the cheapest and most affordable meat proteins out there. It used to be chicken, but good chicken at an affordable price is hard to come by these days.

 

With the cost of meat, poultry and fish these days, you really want to make sure that you cook it properly and that it is enjoyable.

When I buy a pork chop, I make sure it has the bone attached. Bone in chops are much more flavorful and tender than when the bone is removed.  I also make sure it is nicely marbled.   A bit of marbling also allows for more flavor and a more tender finish.

My sister had given me a jar of this mustard for my birthday. Curry Pineapple mustard.    It is fermented and made right here in the Maritimes.  I was keen to use it in a recipe. It smells magnificent.

I had seen this recipe on Budget Bytes for Honey Mustard Pork Chops.  It looked and sounded really delicious.  I saw that it would also be very easily to downsize it for the smaller family.  All of the flavors sounded lovely and I thought it would work well with this mustard.

I cut the recipe in half so that it feeds only two people, and in all honesty, for myself, I made only one serving by cutting it in half yet again. The measurements here will reflect the recipe for two.

Cook times remain the same.  It takes the same amount of time to cook 10 chops as it does 8 or 4, 2 or 1.  That never changes when it comes to something like this.

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HONEY MUSTARD PORK CHOPS

Very simple ingredients indeed. You don't need a special mustard for these. Any Dijon will do.

• 2 bone-in good quality pork chops (1 inch thick)
• 2 TBS good quality mayonnaise
• 1 TBS Dijon style mustard
• 1 TBS runny honey
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 TBS of light olive oil for frying

 

It goes without saying that you will want to use the best quality of all these ingredients that you can find.  The pineapple curry mustard worked very well with the rest of the flavors.  Even the honey.

Curry and pineapple are both things that go well with pork, which is why I knew that this special mustard would work well in this recipe.

 

Another thing I did which was different was to mix together the spices and rub them into the pork chop prior to pan frying them.  In the original recipe they were added to the glaze mixture. 

 

I thought it would be better and give more flavor to the chops if I rubbed them right into the chops. I believe I was correct to do so.  The flavor was amazing, and no one flavor got lost in anything else.

 

HOW TO MAKE HONEY MUSTARD PORk CHOPS (FOR TWO)

Nothing could really be any easier.  These practically cook themselves.

Preheat your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Whisk the mayonnaise, mustard and honey together in a small bowl.

Whisk the garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper together in another bowl.

Pat your pork chops dry, and clip them at 1/3 inch intervals all along the fatty edge, using some sharp kitchen scissors. Rub the spices into them on both sides.

Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add your chops. Cook them until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

Place into a baking dish large enough to hold both of them. Slather the honey mustard sauce on both sides to coat well.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes (for 1-inch thick chops) or 20 minutes. (3/4 inch thick chops)

Switch the oven to broil/grill and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes until the surface is golden brown and bubbly. Serve hot.

You can skip the grill time if you wish, but popping them under the grill really does enhance the flavors, and don't skip out on slashing the fatty edge of the chop at intervals. 

Chops with the bone in can curl when cooking. This initial slash of the fatty edge keeps them nice and flat for cooking and presentation!

Just look at how tender and juicy that chop is.   So wonderful.  I hate a dry pork chop, which is all I got when I was growing up. My mother always cooked pork to death. You could have shingled a roof with her chops, but in all fairness, there was a lot more concern in those days about pork and disease. 

 

Today's pork is perfectly safe, although I would still not eat it unless it was well cooked through. You will always want it to reach the  internal temperature of  145*F/62.7*C.

This was fabulously delicious.  That sauce/glaze had a wonderful flavor that worked beautifully with the pork.  Perfectly cooked, not dried out, tender, juicy and delicious!  I enjoyed this with some beans and a baked potato.  It was a lovely meal.

If you enjoy a pork chop every now and then as I do, you might also enjoy the following:

PORK CHOPS WITH CREAM GRAVY -  This recipe results in deliciously tender chops, well seasoned and perfectly cooked, with a lush black pepper cream gravy.  Enjoy together with a fluffy pile of mashed potatoes for a simple supper that everyone will enjoy!

DEVILED PORK CHOPS - Just the name of these gets my tastebuds to tingling. Sized for just two people, this recipe pleases on every level, but can also be doubled to feed four. Crisp coated deliciously tender chops served with creamy rich potatoes are practically unbeatable in my humble opinion!

Yield: 2

Author: Marie Rayner

Honey Mustard Pork Chops2

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Tender, juicy, and anything but boring!

Ingredients

• 2 bone-in good quality pork chops (1 inch thick)
• 2 TBS good quality mayonnaise
• 1 TBS Dijon style mustard
• 1 TBS runny honey
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/2 TBS of light olive oil for frying

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Whisk the mayonnaise, mustard and honey together in a small bowl.
2. Whisk the garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and black pepper together in another bowl.
3. Pat your pork chops dry, and clip them at 1/3 inch intervals all along the fatty edge, using some sharp kitchen scissors. Rub the spices into them on both sides.
4. Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add your chops. Cook them until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.
5. Place into a baking dish large enough to hold both of them. Slather the honey mustard sauce on both sides to coat well.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes (for 1-inch thick chops) or 20 minutes. (3/4 inch thick chops)
7. Switch the oven to broil/grill and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes until the surface is golden brown and bubbly. Serve hot.

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