Dry sherry lends an oxidized, nutty complexity to this pan sauce. Sweetened with fresh orange juice and dried fruit, it's perfect with pork chops or seared duck breasts. The technique in this recipe for making a pan sauce relies on rendering fat from the meat, setting it aside, and using that fat to bloom beautifully complex ras al hanout in the pan, before deglazing it with sherry to incorporate every bit of flavor into the final sauce.
Notes
- This recipe is written for pork chops, but you can make the sherry pan sauce from other proteins; start from step 2, working with one tablespoon of reserved drippings, and proceed as written.
- Instead of fully cooking the pork chops in the skillet, they can optionally be cooked via sous vide to 140 F and patted dry before browning them in the sillet. Just make sure there is sufficient oil remaining for the pan sauce. If additional oil is required, you can supplement with duck fat.
Ingredients
- 2 1-pound bone-in, center cut pork chops - about 1¼ inches thick
- 1¾ teaspoons kosher salt - plus more to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper - plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil - such as grapeseed
- 1 large shallot - finely chopped, about 1/4 cup
- 1½ teaspoons ras el hanout
- ⅓ cup dry sherry - such as oloroso
- 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1 cup fresh orange juice - from 4 oranges
- 3 tablespoons chopped prunes - or dried figs
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Instructions
- Season the pork with salt and pepper.
- Optionally, place the pork chops on a wire rack placed in a rimmed baking sheet and place in the refrigerator, uncovered, up to 24 hours in advance.
Cook the pork chops:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high.
- Add the pork chops and cook, flipping often, until well browned and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of meat near the bone registers 130°F, about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the pork to a plate and tent loosely with foil to keep warm.
- Pour off all but 1 1/2 tablespoon of the drippings, taking care to preserve any browned bits in skillet.
Make the pan sauce:
- Add the shallot to the skillet over medium-high and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 1 minute.
- Add the ras el hanout and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 10 seconds.
- Add the sherry and simmer, stirring to loosen any browned bits, until the liquid has reduced by about half, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the orange zest and juice and prunes and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture has thickened slightly and reduced to about 1 cup, 4 to 6 minutes.
Finish and serve:
- Remove from the heat and stir in the parsley.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the pan sauce with the pork chops.