A sweet-savory dish that gets a double dose of apple flavor from both fresh fruit and hard cider.
Pork and apples are a classic pairing, with the fruit bringing out some natural sweetness in the meat. In this recipe, the apple flavor comes from two sources—fresh apples and a hard cider marinade. Chef Chelsea Fadda, previously of Dai Due Butcher Shop and Le Politique, recommends using Austin Eastciders here. Their original blends bittersweet European apples with American dessert apples to create a crisp and dry cider. Fadda is now the Executive Chef of the new Pecan Square Café.
This simple but delicious dinner requires very little in the way of cooking time. The pork marinates in the cider for an hour, and then everything comes together in less than 20 minutes. Our Stainless Clad Saute Pan cooks the pork chops quickly and evenly, and leaves you plenty of room for the cider-based pan sauce.
A sweet-savory dish that gets a double dose of apple flavor from both fresh fruit and hard cider.
Chelsea Fadda
Marinate the pork chops in 1 ½ cups cider (reserving ½ cup for later) along with garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, and sugar for about an hour. Remove from marinade and pat pork dry.
Heat a large Stainless Clad Saute Pan over medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes. Add canola oil and let it get hot. Sear pork chops on one side until browned, 3-4 minutes. Then flip the chops over and add apple wedges and radishes to the pan. Cook, turning apples and radishes, until everything is nicely browned.
Once everything is nicely browned, add butter and deglaze with the reserved ½ cup cider. Baste the liquid over the pork, apples, and radishes using a Wooden Spoon until glazed.
To serve, arrange everything on a plate and drizzle with remaining pan sauce. Finish with Maldon sea salt.
