The Williamsburg Pork Chops
Chapter 4 — Chicken / Veal / Eggplant Parm + Mains
If you've ever walked into a century-old joint in Brooklyn where the waiters still wear bowties and the walls are lined with photos of guys named Carmine, you know this dish. In Naples, our ancestors made a rustic version with leftover pork and pickled round papaccelle peppers. But when they arrived in New York, they adapted and went big, swapping them for massive bone-in chops and jars of local cherry peppers. While a restaurant line cook might sear these off in ten minutes flat, at home, we treat this like a proper Sunday project. We take heavily marbled shoulder chops, sear them hard in a Dutch oven, and let them simmer low and slow in wine, chicken stock, and sharp pepper brine until they surrender to the fork. Serve it alongside a loaf of foil-wrapped garlic bread to mop up every drop of that tart, deeply savory pan sauce. No apologies.
Ingredients
- bone-in pork shoulder or blade chops4 large
- kosher salt1 tbsp
- black pepper1 tsp
- extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- garlic10 large cloves
- hot and sweet cherry peppers16 oz
- cherry pepper brine1/4 cup
- tomato paste1 tbsp
- dry white wine3/4 cup
- chicken stock3/4 cup
- unsalted butter2 tbsp
- flat-leaf Italian parsley1/4 cup
Method
- 01
Sear the pork chops aggressively until a dark crust forms.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season the chops generously with the kosher salt and black pepper. Sear them in batches, undisturbed, for 4 to 5 minutes per side until they develop a deep mahogany crust, then remove them to a platter and tent with foil.
- 02
Sauté the garlic and peppers in the rendered pork fat.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the smashed garlic to the fat and sauté for a minute or two until pale blonde, ensuring it does not burn. Toss in the quartered cherry peppers and cook for another two minutes. Drop the tomato paste into the center of the pot and stir it into the fat until it turns a rusty brick red.
- 03
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and reserved pepper brine.
Turn the heat back up to medium-high. Pour in the wine and the reserved 1/4 cup of cherry pepper vinegar brine, using a wooden spoon to violently scrape up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it boil and reduce by half, about 3 minutes, then stir in the chicken stock.
- 04
Braise the pork chops low and slow until fall-off-the-bone tender.
Nestle the chops back into the Dutch oven along with any resting juices from the platter. Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer, cover with the lid slightly cracked to let steam escape, and drop the heat to the lowest possible setting. Braise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, flipping every 30 minutes, until the meat offers absolutely zero resistance to a fork.
- 05
Thicken the pan sauce and finish with butter and fresh parsley.
Carefully transfer the fragile, tender chops to a warm serving platter. Raise the heat under the Dutch oven to medium and reduce the sauce for a few minutes to thicken it slightly. Turn off the heat, swirl in the butter until glossy, and stir in the parsley. Spoon the peppers, garlic, and that tart, garlicky gravy generously over the chops.
Notes
Never substitute lean center-cut loin chops for this braise.
The prolonged cooking time requires the abundant fat and connective tissue found only in shoulder or blade chops; leaner cuts will completely dry out and turn to sawdust.
Serve with foil-wrapped garlic bread.
Do not toast the bread open. Wrap it entirely in foil before baking so the steam softens the crumb and the garlic butter melts into every crevice, creating the perfect edible sponge for the briny gravy.
From Cook Red Sauce at Home.