Skillet Pork Chops with Apples
The chops come out of the pan before they are done and go back in at the end, which is the only way to keep them from drying.
Pork chops go from underdone to dry in about ninety seconds. Taking them out early and letting the residual heat finish them is what stops that, and it is the whole technique.
The apples cook in the fat the pork left behind, which is why they taste like more than apples.
Ingredients
| Amount | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 2 | bone-in pork chops, about 1 inch thick |
| 2 | firm apples, cut into thick wedges |
| 1 | onion, sliced |
| 1 tbsp | butter |
| 1/2 cup | cider or stock |
| 1 tsp | thyme leaves |
| — | oil, salt, pepper |
Method
- Salt the chops and leave them out of the fridge for twenty minutes if there is time.
- Hot pan, thin film of oil. Four minutes on the first side without moving them, three on the second.
- Onto a plate to rest, even though they will not look finished. They are not meant to yet.
- Butter into the pan, then the apples and onion. Six to eight minutes, until the apples take colour and still hold their shape.
- Cider in, scrape the bottom, and let it reduce by half.
- Chops back in with any juices from the plate, one minute a side, thyme over, and off the heat.
Notes
- Bone-in chops are more forgiving than boneless by a wide margin.
- A firm apple holds up; a soft one turns to sauce, which is a different and also good dish.
- The juices on the resting plate are the best part of the sauce. They all go back in.
Questions
How do I know they are done?
By touch or by thermometer, not by time — chop thickness varies more than the recipe can allow for.
No cider?
Stock, or water with a spoon of vinegar. Something acidic is doing a job here that plain water does not do.
Can I add mustard?
A teaspoon whisked in with the cider. It suits the dish and it is not traditional anywhere in particular.