RECIPE: Pork chops make for speedy skillet dinner

Pork chops are an excellent choice for a 30-minute skillet supper, as long as you chose the right chop.

All four-legged animals have a muscle, called the loin, that runs along either side of the backbone from the neck to the hip. In a pig, this muscle represents itself as pork chop. The loin doesn’t get much exercise, so it’s tender and appropriate for shorter cooking times.

Your best bet for this quick skillet supper are bone-in rib chops. Where the chops are cut from in the loin makes a difference. The steaks cut from the shoulder closest to the neck are known as blade. They are tough and best for braising. Next up are the rib chops. Featuring one large eye of loin muscle, ribs chops are tender, flavorful, and a great choice for pan-searing. Further down the loin, closer to the hip, are the loin chops that often look like little T-bones. (The larger muscle is the loin and the smaller muscle is the tenderloin.) They have great flavor, but since the two muscles cook at different rates, these chops are trickier to cook. Last up is the sirloin chop, nearest the hip. Because of all the different muscles converging at the joint, sirloin chops should be cooked low and slow.