Originally published on January 26, 2015
Pork chops didn’t use to be my favourite thing to eat. They always seemed to turn out too dry, too flavourless, or just too boring. But I’m still mindful of the many plates of boring, plain pork chops that I’ve served in the past and I’m always trying to find ways to make them better. Luckily the last time chops showed up in my fridge,I was reminded of a Julia Child quote, “With enough butter, anything is good.” I decided to take Julia to task, and see just how much butter I could put on the plate and still stand it. Turns out, when you make Julia’s beurre blanc sauce, that amounts to quite a bit.
Remember when making a beurre blanc that it can be quite finicky. It separates easily and cannot be held, even over the lowest of heat, for very long. It’s for this reason that you need to have the rest of the meal prepared before you even start making the sauce. This way you can just pour it over your meat or side the second the sauce is ready.
Ingredients:
4 boneless pork chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound green beans
2 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons dry white wine (lemon juice can be substituted)
1 tablespoon shallots, very finely minced
1 cup butter, well chilled and cut into 16 pieces
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Salt
Black pepper
Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
2.) Place a steamer basket inside of a large saucepan with about an inch of water. Wash and trim green beans, and place them inside the basket. Season the beans lightly with salt, then cover the saucepan with a lid and bring the water to a boil. As soon as it’s boiling, turn the heat off, keep the lid on, and leave the beans inside while the rest of the meal is cooking. By only having the water boiling for just a few seconds, you will steam the beans without over-cooking them.
3.) Heat the two tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper and when the oil is hot, place them in and cook the chops for five – 7 minutes on each side, until they are nicely browned and caramelized. Then flip and cook the other side for another 4 – 5 minutes. After the chops have been seared nicely on both sides, place them on a baking sheet and put them in the preheated oven. This will keep the chops warm, without overcooking them.
4.) Place the shallots, white wine vinegar, wine or lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and white pepper in a medium-sized stainless steel saucepan. Turn heat onto high and boil the mixture until it’s reduced to the consistency of syrup. There should be about 1 1/2 tablespoons remaining.
5.) Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately beat in 2 pieces of the chilled butter. Continue whisking until the butter is softened and creams into the rest of the mixture. Then, set the saucepan over very low heat and beating constantly, continue adding the remaining pieces of butter one at a time, waiting until one piece is softened and creamed into the mixture before adding another. Once all the butter has been added, the sauce will be thick and ivory-coloured, and the consistency of a light hollandaise. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and white pepper.
6.) To plate, mound the starch (potatoes or rice, typically) in the centre of the plate, and plate pork chops and beans on top of each other. You can do this in whatever order you’d like. I chose to place the beans on top of the chops, but I might do it differently next time, for presentation sake. Drizzle the beurre blanc sauce over top.
7.) Serve and enjoy!