Rhubarb isn’t just for pie. It also makes a classic fruit and mustard sauce for pork (it works nicely on chicken and lamb, too) that helps keep the meat moist once it’s cooked so it can be prepared ahead and held until folks are ready to eat.
Pork chops are cut out of the same basic part of the pig: the loin, which runs along the pig’s back from shoulder to butt. Depending on where the chops are cut, they’ll have slightly different cooking qualities. My favorite for pan-roasting is the rib chop, sliced from the blade end. The higher fat content makes these chops flavorful and easy to sear. You want them to be thick—at least 1 1/4 inch thick, because any thinner and they tend to dry out. It’s always a good idea to salt the meat and let it rest before cooking. Salt draws juices up to the meat’s surface, and it’s then reabsorbed through cooking. This concentrates flavors while retaining moisture, yielding a juicer, tastier chop.
