ezRecipe-Zee: Cooking Recipe: How to make Brined Pork Chops With Apples

Brined Pork Chops With Apples

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Date Added:	February 29, 2008
Calories:
Serves:	4
Prep. Time:	0:00
Category:	Main Dish, Pork

Ingredients:

4                   center-cut pork loin chops, 1 1/2" thk
                    excess fat
                    === BRINE ===
4     cups          apple cider
3 1/2 cups          water
1/2   cup           salt
1/2   cup           golden brown sugar - (packed)
3     tablespoons   coarsely-ground black pepper
2     teaspoons     dried rubbed sage
1     teaspoon      ground cinnamon
                    === PORK ===
1     tablespoon    olive oil
1                   onion
2                   Granny Smith apples
                    and thinly sliced - (abt 2 cups)
3/4   cup           canned low-salt chicken broth
1/2   cup           apple cider
1/4   cup           Calvados or apple brandy
2     tablespoons   raisins
1/2   teaspoon      ground ginger
1/3   cup           whipping cream
1     tablespoon    Dijon mustard
                    Salt
                    Freshly-ground black pepper

Directions: one line for each direction. When saved the lines will be numbered.

For brine: Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Add pork chops to brine. Top with plate to submerge pork. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
For pork: Drain brine from pork chops. Pat pork dry. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Add pork and cook until brown but not cooked through, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer pork to plate.
Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to same skillet. Cover and cook until onion is soft, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add apples and saut� until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Stir in broth and cider, then Calvados, raisins and ginger, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add cream and mustard. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add pork. Cover; cook 3 minutes. Turn pork over and cook until thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150 degrees, about 3 minutes longer. Transfer pork to plates.
Simmer sauce until slightly thickened, about 4 minutes longer. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon sauce over pork and serve.
This recipe yields 4 servings.
Comments: Pork, always a favorite in the Midwest and the South, gained popularity early in the century. Immigrants from pork-loving countries such as Germany and Poland were crowding the cities and finding that fresh pork, a luxury back home, was abundant and affordable. Recipes of the time called for pan-frying chops, covering them with apples and baking them for an hour or so. But that would leave today�s pork, which is less fatty, very dry. Here, brining is the trick for making pork chops flavorful and juicy.

Notes:
Recipe from the article "The 20th Century In Food: 1900s"

Nutrition Facts not Available

Rating: ()

Added On: February 29, 2008

* Bon App�tit, September 1999