Magnificent News: Eat Voraciously: Trick up your sleeve

Read online

Here's what's for dinner tonight.

By G. Daniela Galarza

Did a friend forward this to you? Sign up here.

Trick up your sleeve

Happy Tuesday, all.

I get a fair number of emails asking me to feature more recipes with short ingredient lists. I hear you! The trouble is, without a flurry of spice, acidity and texture, many dishes can turn out one-dimensional and boring. What every cook needs are a few tricks to keep things interesting.

Here's one: Compound butter.

To make it, take a stick or more of softened butter and stir in one or a few of the following:

Ground or whole (and preferably toasted) spices, such as cumin, fennel or coriander
Cracked peppercorns
Chile flakes or ground chiles, such as pimentón, paprika and gochugaru
Fresh (and chopped) or dried herbs, such as tarragon, parsley or rosemary
Fresh or sizzled (and cooled) ginger or garlic
Caramelized onions
Chopped sun-dried tomatoes
Grated cheese
Honey, maple syrup or other sweeteners
Chopped olives, capers or anchovies
The zest of citrus fruits, including lemon, orange and lime

Wrapped tight and refrigerated, this flavored butter will keep at least a week, and often longer. (You can also freeze it for up to a month.) There are all sorts of ways to use it:

Stir it into freshly cooked pasta, rice or other steamed grains
Melt it over roasted, seared, grilled or steamed vegetables
Swirl it into stewed beans or scrambled eggs
Spread it on warm bread
Turn it into a sauce by melting a couple of tablespoons in a pan and whisking in a 1/4 cup or more of wine, juice, water or stock. Simmer for a few minutes until it reduces and thickens slightly.

Or, do as recipe editor Ann Maloney does, and add a pat of compound butter to the top of skillet-cooked pork chops.

For this recipe, you'll make the compound butter while the chops brown in a pan. When they're done, top them with a pat of butter and set them aside to rest while you cook green beans in the same pan. When the beans are ready, stir in more of the butter and a dab of horseradish. About that trick up your sleeve? Double the compound butter recipe so you'll have leftovers to use in the week or so ahead.

Need more convincing? Here's some praise from the comments section: "We made this tonight and it was great! Our family doesn't typically love pork chops, but we were desperate for something other than chicken or ground beef. These were really, really good! And the green beans? Heaven! The only thing I'll do differently in the future is double the herbed butter – I have teenagers and they were just about licking the bowl to get every last bit. Great recipe."

Today's recipe

Photos by Scott Suchman for The Washington Post; food styling by Lisa Cherkasky for The Washington Post

Skillet Pork Chops With Horseradish Green Beans

To skip the meat >> use slabs of cauliflower, fat or frilly mushrooms or halved broccoli stalks, sauteing them the same way and finishing with the flavorful butter.
No butter? >> Use vegan butter or refined coconut oil. (Other fats also work, but may not harden or be spreadable.)
Out of green beans? >> Try this with chopped kale or sliced zucchini.

Want to save this recipe? View it on Voraciously here and click the bookmark icon below the serving size at the top of the page to add it to your Reading List.

For easy printing and scaling, view this recipe in our Recipe Finder.

Servings: 4
Total time: 30 mins

Ingredients

For the butter

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool to the touch
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
1 lemon, finely zested (about 1 teaspoon zest) and cut into wedges

For the chops

4 (6-ounce) boneless pork chops, about 3/4-inch thick
1/4 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or another neutral oil, plus more as needed

For the beans

1 pound fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed and halved crosswise if fresh
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, drained, plus more to taste

Steps

1. In a small bowl, stir together the butter, chives and lemon zest until combined.

2. Pat the chops dry and cut two slits, about 2 inches apart, through the fat on the edges of each chop, then lightly sprinkle them with the salt and pepper.

3. In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the chops and cook until well-browned on both sides and the meat has an internal temperature of 140 to 145 degrees, about 8 to 10 minutes. (Thicker chops will need to cook longer.) Using tongs, stand the chops on their side in the pan, fat side down, to render some of the fat, about 1 minute. Transfer the chops to a platter and, using half of the butter, add a dollop to each chop. Cover the chops to keep them warm.

4. In the same skillet over medium heat, add an additional 1 tablespoon of oil if the chops were lean and there's not enough rendered fat from the chops. Add the green beans and lightly season with pepper, if desired. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans begin to brown in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the water, cover and cook until the beans are bright green, but still crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Uncover and continue cooking until the water evaporates, about 1 minute.

5. Stir in the horseradish and the remaining chive butter and cook for 1 more minute or until the beans have reached the desired tenderness. Taste, and season with more salt, pepper and/or horseradish, as needed. Remove from the heat.

6. Divide the pork and green beans among plates and serve hot, with a lemon wedge on the side.

NOTE: If you don't plan to eat all of the green beans right away, transfer leftover beans to a storage container to stop them from cooking.

Adapted from "Five Ingredient Dinners" from America's Test Kitchen (2021). Tested by Ann Maloney.

Nutrition information per serving (1 chop and 3/4 cup beans): Calories: 386; Total Fat: 21 g; Saturated Fat: 9 g; Cholesterol: 142 mg; Sodium: 250 mg; Carbohydrates: 9 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugars: 4 g; Protein: 40 g.