Difficulty: 1/5
I’m not sure what it is about pork chops, but they dazzle me. I see it on any menu and I’m like “hmmmm yes… pork chops!”. So here goes a really easy, fast recipe you can do at home but it also is extremely flavourful. Apples and pork go really well together (no wonder we always see this image of a whole-cooked pork with an apple in its mouth), and so this glaze with apple cider vinegar and honey, with actual green apple cubes is quite amazing. The creamy mashed potatoes is just the perfect companion for this dish. Here goes the recipe 🙂
Portions: 4
Ingredients:
– 4 pork chops
– about 30 sage leaves
– 150ml olive oil
– salt and pepper to taste
– 2 green apples
– 100ml apple cider vinegar
– 200ml bee honey
– 300g potatoes
– 20g butter
– 100ml fresh cream
– 100ml milk + more if necessary
– salt and pepper to taste
– pinch nutmeg
Procedure:
1. Marinate the pork chops in the olive oil and sage leaves. Give them a bit of a rub between your hands so it lets the aroma out. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge for at least an hour, ideally overnight.
2. For the potatoes, I roasted them in the oven at 210C for about 1hour or until they become really soft inside (try it by stabbing it with a knife). Then take out the pulp and mash it.
3. Heat up the butter, cream and milk and mix with the potatoes while both are still soft to prevent any lumps. Then decide if the consistency needs more milk; it will depend on your potatoes, how cooked they were, etc. so it does vary.
4. For the glaze, peel and cut the green apple in cubes
5. Put the vinegar and honey in a pan with the apple cubes and boil until the acidity from the vinegar goes away (about 5-10min boiling).
6. Bring out the pork chops from the fridge so they come back to room temperature before cooking. Now take the olive oil from the marinade and put it in a pan, where you will put the pork chops to cook.
AN IMPORTANT NOTE ON PORK COOKING: even though it’s true that pork, as chicken, is more prone to bacteria and normally it is advised to cook through, this does not mean to cook it until it’s a solid rock. As soon as the inside reachers 73C, all bacteria are killed. This happens when it’s cooked inside, but is still juicy. So as soon as you feel that it’s o longer as soft as it was when raw (about 5min per side), it’s cooked inside and ready to serve. Overcooked pork, like chicken, is really tough and looses most of its flavour.
And that’s it! Serve the pork and drizzle the exquisite glaze over it. YUM! Serve pretty and enjoy!
