I got back home Sunday night after 3 weeks in Europe, and jetlag this time around has been REAL rough. I’ve been able to stay up until 10-ish, but haven’t been able to sleep past 4 or 5 am, and as someone who usually sleeps about 9 hours per night, the sleep deprivation is making my brain go fuzzy. So let me preface this by saying that there might be parts of this blog post that make more sense than others. If I start rambling on a strange tangent or trail off…I apologize. While I might not be offering up my best writing in this post, I can at least share a very delicious recipe with you guys with some juicy pork chops served alongside roasted grapes and plums.
If you remember my post a few weeks ago, you know that I had a completely bonkers amount of grapes from my grape vine and was scrambling for ways to use them all up. And in previous years you may have read about my parents’ annual tendency to give me more plums than would feed an entire village. Well, it turns out that tangy roasted plums, sweet roasted grapes, and savory pork chops and go very, very well together, so I was able to use up a pretty solid amount of them making this several times.
So, how do you make the perfect pork chop?
When it comes to making the perfect pork chop, there are two key prep tips that will keep them nice and moist and prevent them from drying out when you cook them.
1. Always get bone-in chops.
2. Always brine your pork chops beforehand.
Even just a couple hours submerged in a salty brine can make a big difference and will make them even more juicy and flavorful. I prefer to brine my chops overnight, and if I’m feeling fancy I’ll even toss some fresh herbs into the brine to impart more flavor to the pork chop. Since I was going pretty wild serving the pork chops alongside roasted grapes + plums, I kept the chops themselves very simple and just seasoned them with olive oil, salt, and pepper before cooking them. As for the cooking method, always sear the chop first on the stovetop on both sides, and then transfer it to the oven to finish cooking it. Additionally, I always use a meat thermometer to cook it juuuust until the thickest part of the chop reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit, to ensure that I don’t overcook it. If you follow these guidelines you’ll be making the perfect pork chop every time, I promise! Hope you enjoy these and the last bit of grapes + plums of the season 🙂
Perfect Pork Chops with Roasted Grapes and Plums
There are 2 key aspects to making the perfect juicy pork chop, and they involve using bone-in chops and brining the chops before cooking. If you follow the recipe below you'll be in for some of the best pork chops of your life. Enjoy, friend!
Ingredients
Perfect Pork Chops
- 4 cups tepid water
- 1/4 cup salt
- 4 pork chops, bone-in about 14 ounces per chop
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Roasted Grapes and Plums
- 1 pound grapes on the stem
- 1/2 pound plums pitted and cut into eigths
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
Instructions
Perfect Pork Chops
In a large bowl, whisk together the water and the salt until the salt dissolved.
Place a gallon-sized ziplock bag in a large bowl. Place the pork chops in the bag, and fill the bag with the brine. Seal it and place the bowl with the bag in the refrigerator. Allow the pork chops to brine overnight.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Set two large cast iron skillets in the oven to preheat them.
Remove the pork from the bag, rinse thoroughly, and pat them dry. Coast the pork chops with the olive oil and sprinkle them with some flake sea salt and black pepper.
Use oven mitts to transfer the hot skillets to the stovetop over medium high heat. Sear the pork chops until golden, fitting 2 per pan, about 5 minutes. Flip the pork chops, remove the skillets from the stovetop, and immediately place them in the oven.
Roast until the thickest part of the pork chops reach 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Serve immediately with the roasted grapes + plums.
Roasted Grapes and Plums
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil and soy sauce.
In a large bowl, gently toss together the grapes, plums, and soy sauce mixture until the fruit is coated in the mixture.
Evenly spread out the fruit on a baking sheet and roast until the color of the grapes deepens and the skin splits, about 30 minutes.
Beautiful photos, as usual. And a fabulous recipe.
Thank you so much Mimi!!
These look absolutely gorgeous! A wonderful spin on pork chops and apple sauce! Those plums look so sweet. xo
Allison | Peplums & Pie
Thank you Allison! Oh my they were so delicious!!
I loooooove porkchops
They are soooooo good!
Recipe and photo’s are amazing! Glad you are home💓
Thank you Jamie!!
I love this idea! I’ve been playing around with meat/fruit dishes this summer with mixed results. 😬😬 This is definitely going on the “to cook list”.
I love porkchops
I made it! I ended up doing it just a little bit differently as it was so bleeding hot that day I used my grill and the cast iron pans outside so I didn’t have to heat up my kitchen. Oh. My. Gosh! It was amazing! The roasted grapes were phenomenal! And brining the chops worked terrific. I threw garlic scapes and rosemary into the brine and I love the flavor it imparted. I cannot wait to do this again!!!
Awwww YAY!!!! So glad you enjoyed it!! And making it on the grill sounds incredible! I’m going to try it that way later this summer once my grapes are ripe, SO excited!! 😀
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