Recipe: Chicago-Style Pork Chop Sandwich

Whenever I go to get one of these, I can smell the onions from down the street—piles of caramelized onions covering seared pork chops, keeping them warm like the belly of a mama bear. I love the kind of spots that can hand you a sandwich in less than a minute flat, and the whole family instantly has food that’s eaten on the hood of the car, eating and chewing away at an American classic that now can be made at home. - Matty

Yield: Serves 2, Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 bone-in pork chops (the thinnest pork chops available, about 4 ounces  per chop)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the onion
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 white onion, julienned
• 4 slices toast
  
• 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 pickled jalapeño chiles

Directions

Season the pork chops with the salt and pepper.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Once the oil is smoking hot, add the pork chops and sear hard on the first side, about 2 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side. Take out of the skillet and rest on wire rack.

Heat the vegetable oil in the hot pan. Throw the onion into the pan, stir it up, and hard-sear for 2 to 3 minutes. Put a lid on the pan and let the onion steam for a minute. You want those onions a little caramelized and burnt. Season with salt. Remove from heat and let rest.

Spread 1 tablespoon of the mustard on one side of both the top and bottom pieces of toast. Place the pork chops on the bottom toast, cover with onions, and finish with the top toast, mustard side down. Serve with a pickled jalapeño. 

Excerpted from Homestyle Cookery.