Bring a taste of fall to your table with this German-inspired dish of apple cider pork chops with red cabbage. Everything is braised to tender, flavorful perfection!
Notes
Cider from Normandy is bubbly, like champagne, and has just enough apple sweetness to curb the bite of a dry white wine, and is preferred in this dish. Hard apple cider could be used as a substitute.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 pound bone-in pork chops
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 1 onion - sliced
- 1 pound red cabbage - shredded
- 1 sweet baking apple - like Gala, sliced
- 2 cups pure apple cider - Normandy-style or hard apple cider
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons prepared mustard - or 1 teaspoon mustard powder
Instructions
Brown the chops
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- Sprinkle both sides of the pork chops with thyme, salt, and pepper. Press the seasonings into the chops.
- Place the pork chops in the hot pan and sear until golden, 2-3 min each side. Remove the pork from the pan and set aside.
Sauté the vegetables
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan over medium heat and cook until the sizzling subsides.
- Add the onions and saute until they begin to caramelize, 5-8 min.
- Add the cabbage and then apple slices, sautéing 2-3 minutes after each addition.
- Add the cabbage and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the apple slices and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cider, vinegar, and mustard.
- Pour over the veggies and deglaze the pan, scraping up any stuck bits.
Cook and serve
- Remove the pan from the heat and nestle the pork chops into the cabbage mixture.
- Place the skillet or Dutch oven into the preheated oven and cook for 1 hour, uncovered, basting halfway through with the juices in the pan.
- Remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.