Pork au Poivre

Looking through the February 1986 issue of Bon Appétit , I ran across a recipe for Pork au Poivre, pork chops seasoned with mustard and a crispy peppery crust. This dish was familiar. I looked through my old box of recipes, and there was the stained index card that has been hanging out in our kitchen for 28 years. Pork au Poivre has been on regular rotation at our dining table for almost 3 decades—it was time for a return visit.

I had adapted the recipe back when I first tried it and stuck to my changes in this preparation. The original recipe, from a now-closed restaurant in Atlanta called the Pleasant Peasant, called for dried tarragon to be used with the mustard coating. I’m not a big tarragon fan, so I subbed in herbes de Provence. It works quite nicely with the pork and mustard. The original also had coarsely ground black peppercorns used in the flour and breadcrumb coating. I decided to grind the black pepper directly on the mustard-coated chops. This way it adheres to the meat more evenly.

Pork au Poivre is a great dish to cook on a weeknight because it’s so easy to put together. You can coat the thin chops with the mustard-herb mixture a couple of hours before dinner (or even the day before) and then allow them to sit refrigerated to flavor them thoroughly.

About 30 minutes before dinner time, take the chops out of the refrigerator and prepare the simple flour and breadcrumb dipping mixture. You do have to be gentle when lifting the chops out of the skillet, as the coating wants to stick to the pan. Carefully using a thin spatula to remove the chops did the trick for me.

The combination of the sharp mustard, the spicy pepper, and the crisp crust transforms thin chops into a dinner treat.  We enjoyed these chops with sautéed Southern greens, flavored with bacon, of course.

Pork au Poivre

Sunnyside Cook

Dawn Dobie

Thin pork chops with a crunchy, peppery coating

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence crumbled
• 1 ½ pounds pork tenderloin cut across the grain into ½-inch thick slices
• 1-2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup dried breadcrumbs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions

 

• Mix together the mustard, vegetable oil, and herbs in a small bowl.
• Coat one side of the pork chops liberally with this mixture. Sprinkle black pepper onto the mustard-coated side.
• Place chops mustard-side down on a plate covered with wax paper or parchment paper. Repeat mustard coating and seasoning with pepper on second side of chops.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 ½ hours (can prepare to this point one day ahead), covered loosely.
• Bring chops to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
• Mix together flour and breadcrumbs in shallow bowl. Season with salt and a bit more black pepper.
• Dredge pork chops in flour mixture, shaking to remove excess flour.
• Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Carefully place pork chops into oil, being careful not to crowd the skillet. Cook until browned, about 5 minutes, and turn carefully.
• Complete browning on second side, about 5 more minutes. Carefully remove from skillet.

Notes

If you have to cook the chops in two batches, place cooked chops in 200 degree oven while second batch is cooked. I recommend cleaning out the skillet and using new oil for the second batch, if needed.

Adapted from The Pleasant Peasant of Atlanta Georgia Bon Appétit (Feb 1986)