In an easy homemade cider sauce
Pork chops with apples and onions, in a homemade cider sauce made with a pinch of cinnamon, is a delicious way to use apples in a savory dish. It has just a touch of sweetness from a splash of real maple syrup, added just before all the ingredients simmer together to meld all these classic fall flavors.
Fall is apple picking time
It’s fall again in New England and for me, that means it’s time to go apple picking. I have more about that in Apple Picking Time. It’s not the apples that call me, I go to the orchard for the picking. I make an art of it.
Very often, the biggest apples are at the top of the trees. The easy to reach ones get picked over pretty quickly. So, if you want the best, you have to work to get them. No, I’m not climbing trees. There is a long handled tool, with a metal basket with fingers to wrap around the top of the apple. Then you carefully nudge them from the stem into the basket. It’s a single minded task that puts my mind to rest about anything other than getting that apple in my bag. 🍎
Apple picking is a great family outing
I am finding more and more apple orchards that are no longer just for picking apples. Orchards have been transformed into a wonderland of fall fun for the whole family.
A couple of decades ago, apple sales alone were not able to sustain the farm and the farmer any longer. The often magnificent tracts of land that are home to the orchards come with a big price tag when it comes to property taxes. I was seeing orchards that had been family owned for generations, put up for sale because they just couldn’t make ends meet. But the human spirit is fierce when put to the test!
Apple growers found a way to thrive. Pumpkins, hayrides, games for children, entertainment, caramel apples, cider, maple syrup, honey and all kinds of great food (like homemade cider donuts!) turned the tide. Now families flock to enjoy a wonderful autumn outing at the orchard. Just goes to show, looking at a problem from a different angle can make all the difference. Not only have apple growers been able to stay afloat, but a good, old fashioned day in nature has become a yearly event for many families.
Picking apples, bringing them home and eating them is sometimes the only time in a kid’s life that they see where their food is coming from. They are able to participate in the harvest and enjoy the fruits of their labor. Apple pie anyone?
Cooking with your fresh apples
Of course, after I pick I have to figure out what I am going to do with all the apples. Homemade apple sauce is always a good way to use some apples. Warm homemade applesauce is a real taste treat delight. Using applesauce as a topping for vanilla ice cream is off the charts good. Want to try making your own? We have a recipe for that. HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE, is easier to make than you may think and you can add your own flavorings and sweeteners. You can choose natural health conscious ones, or not 😊. Our applesauce uses a little bit of maple syrup to sweeten it up and a touch of fresh ginger to spark up the flavor. Adapting to your own sweeteners and flavorings, if any, is easy. Tasting is king when making your own applesauce. Use our recipe as an outline.
Apples are good for savory foods too
I recently went apple picking with my daughter-in-law, Cindy and my granddaughter, Danielle and came home with a big bag full of apples. Ricky and I decided we would work on a savory dinner recipe to use some up. We stayed with the classic pairing of apples with pork. After some trial and error, we came up with this recipe with a homemade cider sauce.
In keeping with our theme of easy cooking we used everyday ingredients to make this pork, apple and onion dish, and it takes minimal time and effort. It has delicious autumn flavors and it’s great!
This is WHAT YOU NEED:
| 2-4 pork chops about 1 inch thick, with bone-in or boneless |
| 1 large yellow onion |
| 3 tablespoons butter |
| 2 apples (use 3 if your apples are small) |
| 1 tablespoon real maple syrup |
| FOR THE SAUCE |
| I cup real apple cider |
| 1 teaspoon salt |
| 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon |
| 1 teaspoon corn starch (not absolutely necessary if you don’t have it) |
About the ingredients
You can use as many pork chops as will fit in the skillet; usually it will hold 4. Use chops with the bone-in or boneless. If you are using boneless, or chops thinner than 1 inch thick, they will take less time to cook so adjust the cook time.
Using corn starch as a thickener
We are using corn starch as a thickening agent for our sauce. Notice that we put the cider in a bottle. Shaking corn starch with a COLD liquid (cold cider in this case) is the easiest way to emulsify it before adding it to your cooking. Emulsify means to fully dissolve the corn starch in the liquid. Hot liquid makes it clump.
Adding cold liquid to flour and shaking it up in a bottle or jar, is a good way to make a meat gravy also.
Both corn starch and flour are used to thicken a sauce or gravy. Most commonly corn starch is used for sauces and flour for meat gravies.
Sometimes only the the real stuff will do
There are some things that there is no substitution for. Real cider and real maple syrup are on that list. Real cider is usually found in the produce department in the grocery store. It is golden brown in color. It’s quite a bit different from apple juice. You should be able to get a small, one serving bottle, in the refrigerated section. That will be enough for this recipe.
Here’s something I learned about apple cider that I found interesting. One year when buying cider at the local apple farm, I asked the owner, who was pressing cider at the time, why it seemed to me that the cider is sweeter later in late fall. He told me that late season apples are generally sweeter than some varieties that ripen earlier. So cider pressed at the end of the season is sweeter!
Real maple syrup is a 100% natural product. It comes from maple trees, and there is nothing added. Those other bottled syrups are maple flavored corn syrup. Real maple syrup is pricey. If you use syrup often, and can’t afford to use the real thing for everything, I would suggest you invest in some for cooking and baking. As long as it is refrigerated after opening, it lasts a long time.
This is WHAT TO DO:
Prepare the ingredients
Core and slice the apples into slices about 1/4 inch thick . If you want to see more about how to prepare apples for cooking, go to HOMEMADE APPLESAUCE.
Slice the onion.
Mix the cider, corn starch, cinnamon and salt together. The easiest way to mix it and dissolve corn starch is to shake it up in a jar or cup with a cover, in cold liquid, (in this case, cider). The corn starch is not necessary, but it thickens the cider sauce little bit. Don’t add the maple syrup to the sauce at this point. You will add it just before you put the chops back in the skillet.
Time to start cooking
Heat a 12 inch skillet on high heat. We are going to sear the pork chops, to lock in the juices and keep them moist. That’s a good way to cook steaks too. Ricky has a great recipe for steak that is out of this world LONDON BROIL STEAK. That’s one of our most popular posts.
Sear the pork chops
We need a very hot skillet to sear. On a lower heat, the chops will not get brown and crusty on the outside, they will steam, sacrificing flavor and tenderness. When the skillet is hot, add olive oil. The oil will warm within seconds. When the oil is hot, it gets a wavy appearance. With practice, you will recognize it. Add the chops. If the oil is hot enough, you will hear the sizzle of the sear as soon as the chops hit the skillet.
When the chops are seared to a golden brown on one side, turn them and sear the other side. For the one inch chops we used, with the bone in, it took 2 minutes to get the sear you see in the picture. The other side only took 1 minute.
If you are using thinner chops or boneless chops, they will take less time. Don’t overcook. Pork gets very dry when it is overcooked.
See the speckles in the oil? That’s pure flavor!
Get the skillet off the heat when you are done searing, remove the chops and put them close by. You will be adding them back in to finish cooking, later.
Brown the onions
Move your skillet back onto the burner, turn the heat down to medium and add the butter and onions. We are melting down the onions until they are tender and browned. It should take about 3 minutes.
You want the onions to get to this stage of brown. Notice that there are even more flavor speckles in the skillet from the onions. In cooking speak it’s called layering the flavors.
Add the apples and cider sauce
Add the apples and the cider sauce, to the hot skillet while still on medium heat. Make sure the sauce stays at a boil. Stir it often as it is boiling. You are thickening the sauce with evaporation during this step, so it important that there is a good amount of steam coming from the skillet. Turn the heat up if you need to. The corn starch will do it’s thing while the sauce boils. Boil for 5 minutes. The apples will be tender and the sauce will be slightly thickened.
Add maple syrup and put the chops back in
Now, the sauce is thickened. It’s time to mix the maple syrup into the sauce and put the pork chops back in the skillet to finish cooking.
The chops should be submerged as much as possible. Push the apples and onions aside and nestle each chop in, so it is laying on the bottom of the skillet.
Turn heat down and simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove the chops from the skillet. They will continue to cook as they rest and the juices will absorb into the meat. Let everything set for 3-5 minutes before serving.
Serve
To serve, spoon the apples and onions out of the skillet and pour the cider sauce in a measuring cup or pitcher for the table. Pour the cider sauce over the chops, apples and onions as you would a gravy.
PORK CHOPS APPLES AND ONIONS
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops about 1 inch thick with or without bone
- 2 large apples or 3 smaller apples
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup all natural real maple syrup
- olive oil for frying pork chops
For cider sauce
- 1 cup apple cider real apple cider
- 1 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Salt the pork chops. Let them sit out to get to room temperature.
- Core the apples and then cut into ¼ inch slices.
- Chop onion.
- In a covered cup, a covered jar or bottle, mix the cider, salt, corn starch and cinnamon. Shake it up until the corn starch dissolves.
Cooking Instructions
- Put a 12 inch skillet on high heat to get the it hot, then add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the skillet.
- When the olive oil in the skillet gets hot. The oil will start looking wavy. Add the pork chops to sear. Fry the pork chops for 2 minutes on one side, turn over and fry on the other side for 1 minute. The chops should be golden brown on ach side. When seared, take out of the skillet and put aside.
- Turn skillet to medium heat, and add the butter and onions. Sauté until the onions are soft and browned.
- Still on medium heat, add the cider sauce and apples. Boil for 5 minutes, uncovered, stirring frequently. The sauce will start getting thicker.
- Add the maple syrup, mix it in well and then place the seared pork chops back in the skillet to finish cooking. Move the apples and onions aside in the skillet to fit the chops in. Submerge them in the sauce as much as possible. When the sauce comes to a boil again, turn down and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
- Remove pork chops from the skillet and put aside. Scoop out the apples and onions then pour the sauce in a measuring cup or small pitcher to use at the table as a gravy.