Old School Style
Thick Bone-In Pork Chops
Pickled Sweet Cherry Pepper & Garlic Sauce
I remember these pickled sweet cherry peppers from my childhood. They’re slightly tart and mildly spicy. In the ’60s, my mom would serve them on her relish tray. When I saw this recipe for pork chops topped with cherry peppers at Saveur here, I thought of my dad. That very evening I picked up a jar of peppers and stopped at the butcher shop on the way home from work. The recipe comes from Bamonte’s Italian-American restaurant in Brooklyn, NY and has been a favorite on their menu since the 1950s. Bamonte’s is one of Saveur’s TOP 100 in the Travel Edition, chronicling the greatest gustatory hits of journeys abroad and close to home. They say, “Each one is worth going out of your way for.”
Pork Chops with Cherry Peppers Recipe
- 2 thick bone-in pork chops
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 12 pickled cherry peppers, halved
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ¼ cup chicken stock
- (I added 2 tsp. Dijon mustard)
Heat oven to 425°. Season chops with salt and pepper. Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Fry chops, flipping once, until browned, 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer pan to oven; roast until pork is cooked through, 18–20 minutes. Transfer chops to a plate. Return pan to medium heat, add remaining oil, garlic, and peppers; cook until garlic is golden, 3–4 minutes. Raise heat to high, add wine, stock, and mustard (if using); cook until reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes. Spoon sauce over chops.
Dad would have liked this one.
Love, love, love pork chops cooked like this!
We eat our fair share of pork around here and would love these.
Definitely ‘old school’ and very New York. That was featured on the menu of almost every Italian restaurant I went to when I was growing up.
It’s a good reminder to keep some of these cherry peppers on hand. Even when you haven’t got mushrooms, or other veggies to add to the dinner, you can always pop open a jar of these. I want to try this soon.
What delicious looking chops, LL! I think the hubby would like if I made pork once a week…so new ideas are always welcome.
PS…looked for you in the Quarterly…was it the Winter one?
Whenever I see pork chops, I usually end up making Tonkatsu (just being lazy… easy way out to make dinner) or some Asian marinade. I’d love to learn new dishes using pork chops. This is really new flavor to me and sounds delicious!
Lori, You never fail me for delivering food to be so darn proud of. This is MEN food. Love love.
Very classic and very delicious. Thank you for sharing…and for your kind and generous words. I hope you have a beautiful weekend with good food and friends.
I made your pork chops tonight. OMG ! Living in rural northern Wisconsin our culinary resources are scarce. The flavor of theses chops made me feel I was at a expensive Italian restaurant. They were as delicious as they were pretty. The best compliment was my husband sopping up the sauce with my homemade crusty bread. Thank you .
Hi Jill – I’m thrilled. We have to thank Bamonte’s for this terrific recipe. And thanks so much for taking the time to let me know it was a hit, really appreciate the feedback 🙂
LL
What an easy and tasty pork chop dish! I always overcook my pork chops so I finally ended up using a thermometer with pork. No more overcooking. Now I need to try these!
Hi MJ- great idea to use a thermometer with pork, so easy to dry out. I’m going to use your idea too, why take a chance?
LL
I love this recipe. It is my grandfather’s speciality. He pickles the peppers from his garden and we all enjoy them year round with porkchops.
That is so neat Dara! Hello to your Grandfather. The recipe is terrific, can’t believe it took me all these years to discover it. We don’t see these cherry peppers used very often here on the East Coast, maybe that’s why?
LL