Pork Chops with Anchovies, Rosemary, Garlic & Chilies

Nothing messes up your Friday like realizing it’s only Tuesday.

Escape to River Cottage is the theme at the cooking club this week and I have a list of recipes from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s books so I begin with a simple asparagus with sautéed mushrooms as a side dish for Hugh’s pan seared pork chops with rosemary, garlic, chilis and anchovies…yes anchovies so don’t run for the hills already because you just haaate anchovies, anchovies flavor a lot of things these days and actually melt away and when you add water, broth or cider you have a wonderful pan sauce for the chops.

I didn’t deviate too much, from the recipe, but I substituted chicken broth and I did cut back on the anchovies for 2 chops using 4 instead of 8.  Red pepper flakes stood in for the chili pepper since I have the Asian ones that are very hot.

I did brine the chops in a simple brine of 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 kosher salt and 7 cups of water for 4 hours…(I made 1/2 the brine for 2 chops)

Link below for Hugh’s original recipe.

Pork Cops with Anchovies, Rosemary, Garlic and Chilies slightly adapted from River Cottage

• A dash of olive oil
• 2 good-sized pork chops on the bone
• 4 anchovies
• 3 fat garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
• 1 dried chillies, deseeded and very thinly sliced or some crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tender sprigs of rosemary
• 100m cider or hearty chicken stock
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat a skillet over a medium heat and add the oil. Season the pork chops all over with salt and pepper, then add them to the pan.