When The Yankee and I were first dating he announced one night that he was making me pork chops for supper.

Boy howdy.

I, ah, was not a fan of the chop of pork. The pork chops of my childhood were strikingly reminiscent of the sole of a shoe. An old shoe. In my mother’s defense, the recommendation at the time was to cook pork to something like 4,000 degrees, and it was quite a challenge to make it edible (enter: applesauce).

Now, fortunately, pork is safer. And the pork from our CSA? Also yummalicious. These pork chops in particular? Awesomeness. When you add in a brine? Oh my moly. I am never again making pork chops without brining; it’s that good.

Brined pork chops with white gravy

Ingredients

• Pork chops (I made two)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup salt
• water and ice
• 2 Tbsp. AP flour + more for coating pork chops
• Salt, pepper
• Oil: olive, vegetable, or bacon grease — whatever floats your boat (and your pork chops)
• 1 cup milk (I always use whole milk)

Instructions

1. Whisk together sugar and salt in cold water, and lay pork chops in the water; add more water if needed to cover chops, and add plenty of ice. Let it sit for at least 20 minutes or so; I did 45 minutes
2. Preheat oven to 350F
3. Drain pork chops and heat oil in a heavy skillet, ideally cast iron. When the oil is heated dredge pork chops in flour and put immediately into oil to fry until brown on both sides. Check the temperature of the pork; assuming it’s brown on both sides but isn’t quite done in the middle, spoon off 2 Tbsp. of the grease into a second skillet, then put the chops in the 350 oven to finish cooking
4. In the second skillet whisk in 2 Tbsp. flour to the 2 Tbsp. of pork fat till smooth; whisk in 1 cup milk and heat till bubbling and thickened
5. Serve chops with gravy