Experiment: Apple Braised Pork Chops

2 thick cut pork chops

For the pork:
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp tarragon
salt and pepper

For the sauce:
1 cup apple cider or juice
1/2 tbl dijon mustard
1-2 cloves chopped garlic
1 tbl cider vinegar
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 apple, cored, peeled and cut into chunks
1/2 tbl flour

Trim the chops if you need to. Rub them with salt, pepper, tarragon and marjoram. Sear them in a very hot skillet, with a bit of oil, then put them on a plate and tent them with foil. Turn down the heat to medium hot and add the onion. Brown it, then add the garlic. Sautee the garlic for 30 seconds or so and then add the flour. Cook it for a minute or so, but don't let anything burn. Pour in the cider or juice. Add the vinegar and mustard and stir it together. Bring it to a high simmer and let it reduce for a minute or two. Then add the chops and apple. Reduce heat to low, cover it and let it simmer till the pork is cooked and the apples are tender.

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A while ago I had an apple I needed to use and pork chops in the freezer. These two things kind of met head on and became this. Now I know there are tons of recipes on the net for apple braised pork, but I really didn't feel like looking any up. So I grabbed what I had on hand and tossed this together. It came out pretty well, but I know a few things I will change next time. For one, cider would have been much better. But all I could get was apple juice, which made it quite sweet. I had been planning on adding brown sugar, but I think that would have been a bit much. A bit of cinnamon and some rosemary would have been good. I think a pinch of cayenne would have been nice too. But anyway, here is what I did.

First, I seasoned the pork chops. These are boneless center cut chops. They're pretty lean but they do have an outer layer of fat, which I should have trimmed some of off. But I rubbed them with salt, pepper, marjoram and tarragon. Why marjoram and tarragon? They were the first spices I grabbed. I'm wicked good at carefully thought out flavor schemes. Heh. But they worked out really well. I intentionally put lots of seasoning on since I figured some would be coming off in the braise, but next time I will put on a bit more. Then I seared them in a bit of oil. I did this over really high heat so they didn't cook too much, since they would be braising. Then I reduced the heat a bit and browned up the onion and garlic. Well, the onion first, then the garlic. Tossed in a little flour, to help thicken the sauce, and cooked it for a minute. Poured in the apple juice. Here is where I added the vinegar, but once again I have forgotten to take a picture. I did put in vinegar though, I assure you. Then the mustard. This is another thing I will add a little more of next time, although it might not be as important with cider as it was with apple juice. The apple juice really needed more flavor, which the mustard helped with a lot. But cider has plenty of good flavor on it's own. Anyway, then I reduced the sauce a little and tossed the chops and apples in. Then I covered it up and let it simmer for a while. I think it was around 15 minutes or so, but I really don't remember. Just do it till the chops are done, then pull them out. If the apples need more time you can always let them simmer alone for a while. Or just eat them crispy in the middle. And there you have it, braised pork chops with apples. So, this experiment was good, but needs more work.