Pork Chops

Last week we had bought an 11 pound pork loin because we wanted to try this recipe, but they don't carry roasts in our grocery. So, we bought a huge loin which Nick cut up into various portions of roasts and chops. Plus, we are cheap, and it cost less to buy entire pieces of meat and cut them into portions yourself than to buy prepackaged portions from the grocer. We usually do this with most meats, beef tenderloins for steak, and whole chickens which we then freeze into portions we can use later.

So, back to the chops. We used a this recipe, with a few tweaks.

 Ingredients (for 2):

2 Golden Delicious apples, chopped
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 oz. golden raisins
1/2" piece ginger root, grated
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1 c. apple cider
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a pinch of nutmeg
a drizzle of olive oil
2 pork chops, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper
1 tbsp butter

Place the apples, lemon juice, raisins, ginger root, brown sugar, cider and spices into a pan. Heat over medium high heat until the apples get soft and much of the liquid evaporates.

In a separate pan, brown the pork chops. Once browned, cook on medium heat until cooked through. Remove them from the heat and then deglaze the pan with the butter and cider. Pour the pan sauce over the chops and top with the apple mixture.

We did tweak the original recipe a bit, we used thinner pork chops and ended up grating the ginger into the applesauce instead of removing it. We'd like to try adding a Granny Smith in the mix for some tartness the next time, so we'll let you know how that goes.

We served this with a heaping side of roasted broccoli with pecorino and a loaf of olive bread with pesto for dipping. We'll have to share the ridiculously easy recipe for the bread in another post, because once you make it, it will be a staple at every meal it's so tasty and warm!