Pork Chops and Green Beans

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Who doesn’t love a big plate of Pork Chops and Green Beans for dinner? A classic Southern staple that is eaten by millions of households every year for two main reasons. It’s easy to make, and it tastes great!. Ok, maybe three reasons, the third being it’s an extremely affordable meal. Those combinations are more than enough to sell me on any dish!

At its heart, this is a simple dish to make. Our recipe aims to try and elevate the flavors of this classically simply dish with a few easy techniques. The flavor we’re extracting from this dish really comes from a great quality sauce, and good quality produce. That’s all there is to it

If you’re using great quality Pork (we’ve been lucky enough to have access to Hudson Valley Pork which is amazing), and fresh Green Beans, all the hard work has already been done for you! This recipe’s goal is to elevate those flavors with simply ingredients and techniques

How to make the best Pork Chops and Green Beans

Let’s start with the Pork Chops. Good quality Pork Chops really don’t need a lot done to them in our opinion. Let the natural flavors of the Pork shine through in your cooking. We love a simple seasoning of Salt and Pepper before pan frying them

We recommend cooking with Bone in Pork Chops as they have way more flavor. You generally get thicker cuts of Pork Chops when you’re buying them on the bone too, which is what we want for this recipe. For the thicker cuts of Pork (as with any meat) it is important to cook it when it’s at room temperature. This way, you’ll have an even cook throughout the meat

There’s nothing worse than cutting into a Pork Chops that’s cooked perfectly on the outside, but once you get into the center, or closer to the bone it’s raw. Leaving it at room temperature for at least 1 hours (preferably 2 if you can) will ensure an even cook throughout

Render off the Pork Fat when you begin cooking the Chops

This is an important step in cooking a perfect Pork Chop. On the Loin side of the Chop will typically be a thick strip of fat. It’s the tastiest part of the chop and flavors the entire dish. However, if not cooked properly it’s texture won’t be pleasant, and not easy to eat

So, when you’re ready to cook, the first part of the Chop to cook is the fat. Place the Pork Chop into the hot pan with the strip of fat directly hitting the heat. You’ll need to use tongs to hold the Chops in place. Keep them there for about 1 – 1 ½ minutes to render the fat, and get a lovely char on the Fat

Then, the rendered fat can be used almost like cooking oil in the pan. Place the Chop down and cook for about 3 – 4 minutes on each side on a medium heat. You’ll need to monitor the internal temperature of the Pork Chop, and cook times may differ a bit depending on the thickness of the Chop

Resting the Pork Chops is extremely important

Once the internal temperature of the Pork is around 135F remove them from the heat to rest. Resting Pork is extremely important, perhaps more-so than any other cut of meat. We recommend resting the Pork for at least 10 minutes before serving

Resting will allow the Pork fibers to relax and helps to retain all the juices in the Pork. If you cut into the Pork too early, all those juices will immediately run out of the Pork, leaving it extremely dry

The internal temperature of the Pork will continue to increase while it rests too. Therefore, we like to take the Pork off the heat once its internal temperature reaches around 130 – 135F. After resting it will increase to around 140 – 145F, which is the perfect temperature for a Pork Chop

The Green Bean Casserole sauce doubles as a great sauce for the Pork Chops

The classic Southern Style Green Bean Casserole sauce is a lovely and rich Mushroom based Cream Sauce. The Sauce is flavored beautifully with Chicken Stock and Dijon Mustard which also gives it a lovely, silky texture

These flavors are the perfect sauce for Pork Chops. Cream, Mushrooms, Chicken Stock, and Dijon Mustard. It’s basically made for pairing with Pork Chops! What we like to do is cook the Green Bean Casserole as you would a typical Casserole, and simply reserve about ½ cup of the Sauce before plating and set it aside

Retain some of the Green Bean Sauce for the Pork

Plate the Green Beans as you typically would and serve the separate Pork Chops sauce on the side in its own sauce serving container. We’ve got some fancy little individual serving jugs, which are perfect for individual portions of Sauce. They also look kind of fancy, so we like going for that

An optional step to finish the sauce is to add about ¼ tsp. of Whole Grain Mustard to each individual sauce container and mix it through well. The additional mustard adds a little bit of sharpness to the dish, as well as that wonderful texture that Whole Grain Mustard brings to the dish. It’s not a spicy Mustard, so perfect to finish the sauce without really altering the flavor profile too much

Finish the Green Bean Casserole with Caramelized Onions and Toasted Breadcrumbs

For some added flair, we highly recommend adding some toppings to the Green Bean Casserole. The toppings not only look great, but they serve a purpose of adding additional flavor profiles and texture to the Beans. You have plenty of options for toppings, but our personal favorites are a combination of Caramelized Onions and Toasted Breadcrumbs

The Caramelized Onions need to be prepared separately, however they’re so easy to make. Simply slice up the Onion, then add it to a saucepan along with a little bit of Butter and Salt. Cook it slowly on a relatively low heat for about 40 minutes until golden-brown and caramelized

When caramelized, the flavor of the Onion completely transforms. It is beautiful and sweet, as the process extracts all the natural sugars of the Onion and removes all of the bitterness. You can always make the Onions in advance and leave them in the Saucepan. Once the dish is ready to serve, simply re-heat and spread them on top. We love Caramelized Onions, so much that we’ve got a dedicated recipe for them here!

For a detailed recipe on our Southern Style Green Bean Casserole, click here

Pork Chops and Green Beans Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 large Pork Chops
• Salt and Pepper
  
  

For the Green Bean Casserole

• 400g / 14 oz. Green Beans
• 2 Shallots, finely diced
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 200g / 7 oz. Cremini / White Mushrooms, sliced
• Juice of ½ a Lemon
• 300 ml / 10 oz. Heavy Cream
• 1 ½ cups of Chicken Broth (recipe here)
• 1 ½ tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp. Whole Grain Mustard
• ¼ cup Panko Breadcrumbs
• 2 ½ tbsp. Unsalted Butter
• Salt
  
  

Instructions

1. Remove the Pork Chops from the refrigerator and season well on all sides with Salt and Pepper
2. Place the sliced Onion in a saucepan along with 1 tbsp. of Butter and 1 tsp. of Salt over a medium / low heat. Cook for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to Caramelize the Onions. Once cooked, set aside
3. Melt ½ tbsp. of Butter in a separate pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the Panko Breadcrumbs, and mix well to combine. Toast for 4 minutes, stirring frequently until the Breadcrumbs turn golden-brown. Place the Breadcrumbs in a small bowl and set aside
4. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp. of Butter, the Shallots, and ½ tsp. of Salt over medium heat. Cook for 3 minutes then add the Mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add Garlic and cook for a further 1 minute
5. Pour in the Chicken Broth and cook for around 5 minutes, then add the Heavy Cream and Dijon Mustard. Mix well to combine, bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened
6. Once thickened, spoon out about ½ cup of the sauce and place into a separate bowl. Add the Whole Grain Mustard to the bowl, mix well then set aside
7. Add the Green Beans to the Pan with the remaining sauce and cover. Cook for 5 minutes until the Beans are cooked, but still crunchy
   
   

Cooking the Pork Chops

8. While the Beans are cooking, heat a separate large frying pan over high heat. Once hot, place the Pork Chops Fat side facing the pan (hold using tongs). Cook for 1 – 1 ½ minutes to render the fat, then place the Pork Chops into the Pan, cooking in the rendered fat
9. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes on each side until browned. Once the internal temperature of the Pork Chops reaches around 130F, remove from heat and rest for 10 minutes
   
   

Assembling the Dish

10. Once the Pork has rested, place each chop on individual plates along with a nice portion of the Green Beans. Re-heat the Caramelized Onions and add a generous spoonful over the Beans on each plate, along with a sprinkling of the Toasted Breadcrumbs
11. Drizzle the Whole Grain Mustard Sauce over the Pork Chops and sprinkle with Finishing Salt. Serve immediately
    
    

Recipe Notes

Removing the Pork Chops at 130F and resting for 10 minutes will bring its final internal temperature up to 140 – 145F, a perfect medium cook. It is important that you allow the Pork Chops to rest for the full 10 minutes before serving

We hope you’ve enjoyed this classic interpretation of Pork Chops and Green Beans. It’s a perfect midweek meal for the family. If you enjoyed this recipe why not check out some more of our wonderful Pork dishes. Here are some of our favorites:

• Pork Chop Milanese with Parmesan Crust
• Crispy Sweet and Sour Pork
• Homemade McRib
• Crispy Roast Pork Shoulder
  
  

Happy Cooking!