Simply Pork Chops

Last night I made a dish that's becoming an old standby. I like the sear/braise combo with single-serving pieces of meat because I feel safe that they won't dry out and become tough, but they will be cooked through.

I'm not sure if I can really call it a braise if it's cooking in the liquid for less than an hour, but it seems like the easiest way to describe the technique. Last night it was pork chops (about an inch thick, no bone just because that's what was on sale). I seasoned them on both sides, then browned them for three minutes on each side, took them out of the pan, added 1/2 cup white wine, a heaping tablespoon mustard and about a 5-second drizzle of honey, mixed it up and scraped up the yummy brown stuff on the bottom of the pan, bubbled that down for a few minutes, then added the pork to it, closed the lid, and let it simmer for 12 minutes, turning the pork halfway through. (Why do I feel the need to get the whole recipe out in one sentence?) Then I served the sauce on top. I sliced up and toasted some bread and topped it with the leftover bean-tomato mixture from the night before.

These are Todd's favorite kind of meals: a piece of meat, a veggie and a starch. I find them kind of boring (although the above comes out great; tender and sweet with some bite from the mustard). He hates casseroles (he does make an exception for enchilada casserole, but I don't have an old-standby recipe for that).