Recipe 42: Pork Chops with Rich Caper-Lemon Sauce (Toni Tipton-Martin’s Jubilee)
Dig the pig!
I didn’t cook all that much until I went to grad school. During college I survived mostly on take-out, bags of Baked Lays, cold Pop Tarts, Diet Coke, and cans of Hormel chili. I could actually cook two recipes. The first being my grandma’s spaghetti sauce and the second being Shake n’ Bake pork chops. I spent many years terrified of cooking meat for fear of doing it wrong and ruining it. Sure, I’d brown up some burger or fry bacon . . . but a steak? Roast a chicken? Move beyond the comforting and straightforward instructions of 1. Shake and 2. Bake? Forget it! I eventually came around and pork chops are often on the menu. They are quick and easy and extremely versatile, so clearly I had to try Toni Tipton-Martin’s Pork Chops with Rich Caper-Lemon Sauce from her Jubilee cookbook.
SKILL RATING: Low Medium-Effort
I buy pork chops in bulk at Costco and freeze them in portions for two and everything else I had on hand in my pantry. This is a great recipe that seems a whole lot more fancy and involved than it actually is. I would have rated this as a solidly Easy-Peasy unless you’ve never made a roux before as the basis for the pan sauce. But seriously, this is a one-pan meal that cooks up very quickly. As per usual, make things even easier on yourself by making sure all your ingredients are prepped and ready before getting the chops going. I’d also recommend keeping an eye on the cooking time. I always err on the side of slightly undercooking things if I’ve never made the recipe before since stoves and ovens can vary and impact doneness. You can always go back and cook something more, but you can’t un-cook an overdone piece of meat. My chops browned up perfectly 2 two minutes per side and I only left them in the oven for 5 minutes before letting them rest.
TASTE RATING: 5/5
I love a good pan sauce and this was a great pan sauce! The zesty bite from the lemon and briny capers was mellowed slightly with a dollop of butter making a lusciously silky topping to these juicy chops. This is a perfectly elegant recipe to make for company. I sauteed some spinach and steamed sweet potatoes to accompany go alongside. We totally cleaned our plates! (Much better than Shake n’ Bake, by the way.)
Read my “Cook With Me This Year” post for background on my little kitchen project.











