Monday, October 8, 2012

Apple Cider Glazed Pork Chops – Great Recipe, No Bones About It

This shining example of what a few well-placed ingredients can do to a plain piece of meat reminded me of a couple very important things. By the way, if you’re new to cooking, being reminded of stuff is one of the best parts.

First of all, it had me recalling the old, “if it doesn’t have a bone in it, it’s really not a chop.” Of course, search engines being what they are, we were forced to use the oxymoronic “boneless, center-cut pork chops” instead of the traffic stunting “pork medallions.” Not a big deal, but worth mentioning in case you’re ever backed into a corner during a heated, butchery-related water cooler debate.

Secondly, I remembered I need to redo that demo I did for another website many years ago, on how to cut your own boneless, center-cut pork chops, thereby saving some cash. It’s a quick and simple trick, and one I’m sure many of you will remind me I forgot about in a few weeks.

Anyway, the glossy glaze is really easy, and while there’s no starch or extra butter involved, it reduces quickly to a thick, rich, sweet-tart apple syrup. The rosemary and pepper flakes were the perfect accents for me, but this is a technique that begs for your own personal touches. I hope you give this simple and very tasty pork “chop” recipe a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for 6 chops:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
6 boneless center-cut pork chops (6-8 oz each)
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 cups apple cider
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp minced rosemary
pinch of red chili flakes

48 comments:

Scott said...

Nice work CJ (that is what my family refers to you as). Going to try this one this week.

Question: Why not finish the sauce off with butter at the end like you typically do with other sauces? Just curious....

Thanks so much.

Scott said...

I believe they call it monte au burr. But it's still nice work CJ.

Scott said...

Oh man, I must seem like I'm obsessed, but isn't it a crime to recommend under cooked pork? There are parasites inside pork that can only be killed with intense heat, and I'm sorry CJ, 145 internal temp just doesn't cut the dice. Same with eggs, milk and garlic. But aside from that, nice work CJ.

cookinmom said...

Ok...you know people will be asking you this question. Can you use bone in chops (I know, I know, you specifically made this for boneless????)

Anonymous said...

Love the crickets. oh and the recipe looks awesome.

Anonymous said...

Hello chef! Love your videos!

I have a question, or maybe you could do some video about it.

I use teflon pans and I noticed that you don't use them, I wonder how your meat doesn't stick to that pan? is it some kind of a special one? can you recommend a good pan? or just explain why you don't use teflon pans!

Thanks
Ronen

Chef John said...

Scott,

You are wrong. Intense heat is a total myth. Go do some research and/or check this link http://www.fsis.usda.gov/news/NR_052411_01/index.asp

I'll never know why people are so scared, when all the data is in!

Orum said...

> I'll never know why people are so scared, when all the data is in!

Amen!

For someone who doesn't eat pork, what would you recommend as a substitute for the meat. I was thinking of something gamey like a venison, but I don't know if the apple cider would go well with it.

Chef John said...

Maybe turkey or chicken?

Chris said...

Excellent video as always, hilarious graphic (fyi......). Nice Cagney/Brady imitation. That's swell, Alice.

Anonymous said...

Chef John said it best when he once said, "I would rather get food poisoning than eat dried out, overcooked pork".

I don't remember if that was in a video, a comment section, or your blog. Do you?

Vinny from NH said...

So the lady and I had pork chops WITH APPELSAUCE last weekend, and I could not stop thinking about Cagney in my head.

Also, this would have been perfect glaze to top the chops - instead we did some sort of apple cider/onion mix. Reason #327 to always check foodwishes before cooking.

Also, FREAKISHLY SMALL WOODEN SPOON!

Anonymous said...

Made this for dinner tonight and it was so good can't wait to make it again! Thanks Chef John!!!

Unknown said...

Made this for supper tonight and I loved it! My gf, not so much, but she wasn't ready for the taste the vinegar gave the glaze. I'll definitely be making this one again!

Dimitri H. Masson said...

Hi Chef John,

Cider is an alcoholic and bubbly beverage in France (and there is no other kind of cider than the apple one), but in the video you made it sounds like it was only freshly pressed apples.

Should I use some sort of apple juice or what we call cider ?

Steve said...

Chef:

I see you've stolen another of my recipes. . .

Actually, when I do this, I like to use mead (a honey-based fermented beverage sort of half way between beer and wine, for those who aren't familiar). Since my mead is fairly dry (I brew my own so I have control over how sweet it is -- I don't like most of the commercial meads -- they seem excessively sweet to my palate), the sauce comes out a little more tart than yours.

I'll have to try a combination of mead and apple cider some time soon.

BTW, I think you've created a new spiritual song. . . "Amazing glaze, how sweet the sauce/That fed a wretch like me. . ."

Chef John said...

MIne was not alcoholic. Probably would work, but juice is closer to what I used.

Jesse from Detroit said...

The Mason family will be a full and happy bunch tonight. Can't wait to try these chops! Thanks, Chef John.

Anonymous said...

The pork is fantastic! I just made it this evening. Did it along with a nice melange salad with sliced strawberry and balsamic reduction because alas no raspberries in the store.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this recipe. I made it this afternoon and it tasted very good. It's a keeper.

inchrisin said...

I made this recipe expecting it to taste more like it had a dijon sauce. For some reason the sauce was reminiscent of maple syrup. Anyone else getting this? I used pretty generic apple cider and would have liked more of a vinegar kick.

Chef John said...

Did you taste the sauce as it was finishing for acid? You can always add a splash there to adjust for your taste! :)

Cory said...

This recipe was amazing! I liked it so much I made it twice in a week. Once for myself and my roommate and again the following weekend for some friends. Turned out fantastic!

Cory said...

This recipe was amazing! I liked it so much I made it twice in a week!

Nicolas said...

It was 10 pm after work, I was hungry and I craved chops. Went to the grocery store and the only cider there, was a carbonated alcoolic cider made here in Quebec.. Humm can't be bad!

When I deglazed the pan with the cider, it seemed thin and i got scared, I decided to put some brown sugar in it. When it reduced, it turned to a dark red color, finished it with butter.. and ooooh man, I did not regret making this, this late.

Beside getting me laid with your recipes,(the chicken stuffed cherry roulade or whatever it was.. ) your making me eat some insanely good food, even at 10 at night. THANKS CJ

Unknown said...

I made this for my family tonight. It was delicious. I would even serve this to company. Thank you.

Unknown said...

I made this pork chop meal for my family tonight. I served it with mashed potatoes which was great because we could sop up every last bit of that wonderful sauce.

This was so good that I would gladly serve it to company.

Thanks Chef John.

Orenwolf said...

Hi Chef John!

This was the second recipe of yours that I tried out, using fresh-pressed cider we'd picked up the night before out at a fall fair, which is a long-standing tradition up in this part of Ontario. :)

It was phenomenally delicious.

My guest for the evening wasn't previously a fan of meat-plus-sweet, and I think this opened her eyes to the idea that sweet-and-savory can go together well. Thank you for that!

Nejo Morante said...

This is so amazing!!!! My husband loves it so much....need to do it again tomorrow....:-)

Nejo Morante said...

This is so amazing!!! My husband loves it so much and he asked me to do it again tomorrow......:-)

Nejo Morante said...

Dear chef John,
You are the man!!!! Thanx a lot....

Cheryl said...

Chef, you are amazing. One of my 12 year olds started cooking from your videos 3 weeks ago and we are all loving it. This will be her next creation. Thank you for your fun personality. Your videos great.

MotherWouldKnow said...

Tried this last night. Worked wonderfully and tasted divine. The sauce has a nice, sweet note without being overpowering.

Anonymous said...

I made this for the family tonight. I started with a 1.25 lb pork tenderloin which I cut into six equal-sized pieces and brined in a simple salt and sugar mixture for four hours. I otherwise followed the recipe to the best of my ability, except I substituted chipotle powder for the pepper flakes. I was very happy with how this turned out.

Having brined the pork I think I could have cooked it for a one more minute per side to make my wife happier, but I thought it was perfect at 5 minutes per side.

Thanks Chef John for a quick, easy, and great recipe!

Gin said...

Hi Chef John,

This has been a home run at my house. It's simple, easy, and even better than what I'd get at a restaurant.

I've tried it with apple cider and apple juice. I wanted to share with others that with apple juice, it comes out much sweeter, so an extra splash of vinegar at the end should be considered!

Thanks for making cooking easy!

Jen said...

Love the video! I can't think of pork chops w/out thinking of that Cagney/Brady saying.

I'm going to try this either tonight or in a couple of days, for Father's Day. It sounds delicious!

My husband loves pork chops/boneless/medallions/whatever. Unfortunately, he doesn't like rosemary, so I'll have to figure out a substitute.

Unknown said...

I had the thought to put in chunky apple sauce or fresh cut apples... or perhaps maple syrup or honey?? Can you tell I have a sweet tooth?
What do you say Chef John??

Chef John said...

I say it's your dinner! If you like it try it. :-)

Victoria said...

Hi Chef John,

This recipe is amazing, I never cooked before and I stumbled upon your website looking for a unique way to make pork chops for my fiance. I tried this recipe and he cant get enouph he wants me to make it all the time. Im even going to make it for me family for the first time this weekend.I've also tried 2 of your other recipue this week and they were all a great sucess.

Thank you so much, your amazing Chef John!!!

Unknown said...

Tonight I tried this recipe (with bone-in chops though), and I have to say, for a grand total of ~ $5, my girlfriend and I had the most amazing dinner tonight. Thanks Chef John!

Unknown said...

Can I use apple juice instead of apple cider?

Jak King said...

Hi there: Just made this tonight. It was great and very popular. Many thanks!

Cliff said...

Looks delish. Trying it tonight.

So, what's the trick to cutting your own pork chops?

Shonz said...

Hi
I made this the other night and other than the overpowering taste of vinegar it would have been lovely. Not sure what I did wrong. I did this step by step but I must have messed up when I added both apple cider vinegar and the juice straight after each other. Not sure if it makes a difference, can you please tell me where I went wrong and other than reducing the amount of vinegar I add is there anything else I can do so it's not so strong. I used 100% pure apple juice the cloudy kind
Cheers

I.S.T.N.W. said...

Hey, could you use alcoholic apple cider in this recipe? Would you maybe sub it for the vinegar or add some sugar?

Unknown said...

I stumbled upon this recipe searching for another, and I’m very glad i did. I made this tonight with some bone in chops, and it was delicious. I served it with baby potatoes, green beans, and some apple sauce I just made in the instant pot. It looked like I had spent quite a bit of time on this and it was so simple. Thanks for helping me look fancy!

“Freakishly small wooden spoon...” ahahaha

Unknown said...

I stumbled upon this recipe searching for another, and I’m very glad i did. I made this tonight with some bone in chops, and it was delicious. I served it with baby potatoes, green beans, and some apple sauce I just made in the instant pot. It looked like I had spent quite a bit of time on this and it was so simple. Thanks for helping me look fancy!

“Freakishly small wooden spoon...” ahahaha

Unknown said...

Chef John,

Loved the sauce, but I was wondering if there is anyway to thicken it? Butter and flour perhaps? have you ever added sliced apples to the sauce?