No, this isn’t a commercial for All-Clad. I do have these adorable little single-serving ramekins, though, that my friend Cherrie gave me a year or so ago and I forget to use them. They were just perfect for this dish. You could also use just a regular pan for both servings.
While we were on our trip I got a nice email from the folks at Frieda’s Produce. It’s apple season again (hooray) and they wanted to send me some. We got them a few days after our return, and after eating one out of hand right away, I tucked them away in the refrigerator because I knew I wouldn’t use them immediately. But some nights later, once I got back into the routine of fixing dinner (gosh, it was so nice to be on vacation and eat out every meal – no prep, no planning, no cleanup), I was ready to start using some of those organic apples. They sent me baby Cortlands, Cox’s Orange Pippins and Ribston Pippins. If you’re interested, at least the Cortlands are available at some Sprouts markets. Maybe not all. Call and ask. They’re an unusual apple because when you cut them up, they don’t turn brown. All of these are heirloom types: Cortlands date to 1898, the Cox’s from the early 1800s and the Ribston from 1708.
It was so nice of Frieda’s to send the apples to me. I just love apples. Ordinarily I would make dessert with them, but I talked myself out of that since we’d had ample desserts on our trip. I wanted to give ourselves a little break. Not that we had dessert every day – we did not, but even every other day is more than we do at home. If I did my favorite apple dessert, I’d be making my Mom’s Crisp Apple Pudding. I just don’t ever seem to tire of that one. And maybe I will still make that one of these days.
One day before we went on our vacation I decided to clean out one shelf in the freezer. It just wasn’t packed very well, and items kept falling off the shelf and onto my tender sandal-clad toes. Ouch. I found a package of 2 small thick-cut pork chops in there that I’d forgotten I had, so I placed them strategically in the front so I’d see them when we got back. Once we returned, I reached into the freezer for something else, and gosh, wouldn’t you know, those pork chops fell OUT and landed on my toes again. So, that made my decision – I’d cook them.
Making these was not difficult or all that time consuming, really. Once I seared the chops, removed them, then cooked the onion, then the apples and re-inserted the pork in the 2 pans, I stuck them in the oven (covered with foil) and baked them for about 20-25 minutes, until the pork was not quite fork tender.
Pork chops have a habit of either being too chewy, or once they reach a point of tenderness, and you continue to cook them, well, they get dry and hard to eat.
Actually, I didn’t serve them in the little pans – my DH wanted me to, but the All-Clad ramekins are nonstick, and using a knife might have gouged the nonstick surface. So I removed them to a plate. We had cabbage to go along with it (my recipe for sweet and sour cabbage) which was just very tasty with it. If I’d been better prepared I would have made some rice to put beside the pork because there was a lot of very tasty juices running all over the plate.
What’s GOOD: apples and pork are a perfect pair, like salt and pepper, meatloaf and potatoes; you know what I mean. This wasn’t an over-the-top kind of dish, but it was relatively healthy and had enough flavor for a satisfying dinner. If you have apples on hand, use almost any variety – just don’t use the types that fall apart when cooked (like Delicious). You want the apples to stay in their perfect slices. It was easy enough to make and while the pork cooks you can slap together the rest of your dinner.
What’s NOT: nothing really. Next time I might sprinkle just a bit of flour on the chops, which would help thicken the sauce a little bit – that would be nice, then you could drizzle the sauce on top.
* Exported from MasterCook *
Braised Pork Chops with Apples
Recipe By: Adapted from Just Braise blog
Serving Size: 2
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
3/4 pound boneless pork top loin chops
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander pepper to taste
2 whole apples — (Granny Smith, Empire, Rome, Cortland), sliced into 16 wedges
1/2 medium yellow onion — chopped
1/3 cup dark rum
1/2 cup pineapple juice — or apple juice/cider
2 tablespoons Italian parsley — minced
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. In a deep oven-safe pan (or dutch oven) over high heat, warm butter and olive oil (to barely coat bottom of pan).
3. While pan is warming, prepare the pork chops: Wash and fully dry the meat. Coat evenly on both sides with cinnamon, cumin, coriander and pepper. Carefully place meat in pan and sear both sides until thoroughly browned; about 4 minutes each side. The spices will brown quickly – just don’t burn the meat, but dark brown is desirable.
4. Remove the pork chops from pan and reduce heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until they are translucent. Deglaze by adding rum and scraping bits that have stuck to the pan. Add pineapple juice and apples. Braise the apple wedges in the juices until they are limp and have absorbed some juice; about 4 minutes.
5. Return pork chops to pan and move apples around the meat to cover sides and top (some may remain under the chops).
6. Cover pan and place in oven for 10-15 (or 20-25 if you’ve used thicker chops) minutes until pork chops are juicy and succulent and liquid has reduced. Serve with the apples on top and around the sides with the sauce all around. Garnish with Italian parsley. Ideally, serve this with some rice to soak up the juices.
Per Serving: 484 Calories; 16g Fat (35.2% calories from fat); 32g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 85mg Cholesterol; 69mg Sodium.
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