Cider-Braised Pork Chops (Cook country TV)

I just love watching cooking show and trying to follow their recipes and make it for myself. Brett has been my guinea pig since we started dating. So I decided for the next 30 days, I will make us something that I’ve seen, made up, or my mom’s recipes. We’re trying to lose some weights so hopefully this doesn’t interfere much. I also try to make little healthier meals and avoid eating out too much.

I used to make a lot of pasta since they’re so much easier to prepare for dinner and cheap to make a ton so we could have left-over for lunch. This was a bad idea; we’ve gained a lot of weight from eating so much of these in the last few months. I’ll try not to make these types of food in the future.

If you noticed from my last post, there were chicken kabobs, some veggie, some rice. Brett and I love meat so we must have meat as a main dish. I think that should be healthy, right? We just need to not fry them with flour and butter although fish does tastes very delicious when you fry them with flour in oil and butter mixed together.

Since the topic of this post is Cider-Braised Pork Chops, I have to share with you guys our meal last night. We made enough so there would be some left over for lunch the next day. Yay! For saving money and not eating out! Also, I just love how much we save from cooking it ourselves. The whole packet of pork chops cost me $5 from Smith’s (of course I bought it on sale). They’ll do it very often so I would just wait until they’re on sale to buy them.

I don’t use all of the ingredients they said in the recipe though. I’m quite lazy but the food still taste good after all. That’s what matters most. We just love pork and this is a very good and easy recipe to make frequently.

Ingredients
6 bone-in blade-cut pork chops , about 1 inch thick (when you buy it from Smith’s, one packet usually comes with 5 pork chops)
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion , chopped
3 garlic cloves , minced ( I used minced garlic from a jar bought at Smith’s for $5 or so, it lasts for a long time and works just as well and I don’t have to peel and mince them)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour ( I didn’t use this. Avoiding floury stuff right now)
1/4 cup apple butter
1 cup apple cider
1 sprig fresh thyme ( Not so important, but I used dry thyme for more flavor)
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley ( Didn’t use)

Instructions

1. 1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Pat chops dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.



2. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown chops in two batches, about 4 minutes per side; transfer to plate.



3. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from pot and cook onion over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, flour, and 2 tablespoons apple butter and cook until onions are coated and mixture is fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in cider and thyme, scraping up any browned bits with wooden spoon, and bring to boil. Add browned chops and any accumulated juices to pot, cover, and transfer to oven. Braise until chops are completely tender, about 1½ hours.



4. Transfer chops to serving platter. Strain sauce, then use a shallow spoon to skim off fat. Whisk in vinegar, parsley, and remaining apple butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve, passing sauce at table.

I like to eat my chops with rice, cook carrots, and cabbage (napa cabbage shown in picture). I'm sure it's good with salad, Brett hates them so I don't usually have them for dinner. The sauce mixing with jasmine rice is a very very good combination.



5. Make Ahead: Chops and sauce can be refrigerated separately for up to 2 days. To serve, heat sauce and chops together over medium heat until chops are warmed through.

Links to recipe: http://www.cookscountrytv.com/recipes/detail.asp?docid=17272