Balsamic Apple Pork Chops

I'm proud to say that this recipe is all mine. I made it up in my own head. And I'm even more excited to say that it tastes amazing!

We have all heard of the iconic pairing of pork chops and apple sauce but somehow, when you think about that on a plate, it sounds kinda gross. And probably looks even worse. But the flavor pairing of pork and apples go really well together. We tried this pork burger recipe that has sautéed apples and bacon in it which is what led me to the idea (which I'll try to put up soon too!).

I told my mom about the recipe and apparently she liked the idea of it so much, she asked for it (which doesn't happen to terribly often). But she was even nice enough to check here on the blog for the recipe before harassing me via text message for the details. So, Mom, as promised, here is the recipe!

Balsamic Apple Pork Chops

- one small onion, diced

- one granny smith apple, peeled and sliced

- two cloves garlic, minced or through the garlic press

- balsamic vinegar (just have the whole bottle there)

- pork chops

- cooking oil of choice (I used coconut oil)

- salt/pepper

In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, add your cooking oil and bring it to temp. Add the onions and sauté for a few minutes until almost golden then add the garlic and the apples. Sauté it for just a minute or two to get the apples soft and the garlic a chance to heat up then add balsamic vinegar. You want to be very liberal with the vinegar. Add enough to the pan that the apples and onions are able to soak some up but you also want it to reduce down to a bit of a syrup almost before you add the pork chops. 

Meanwhile, season your pork chops. I used bone-in pork chops and just sprinkled some salt and pepper on each side.

Once the majority of the balsamic vinegar has been absorbed or reduced, add your pork chops to the pan. And add more balsamic vinegar. You now what to add enough to help season and give the pork chops some of that amazing flavor.

Cook each chop for just a few minutes on each side until done to your liking. The chops we had were on the thin side so it didn't take too long. Plus, you don't want to overcook pork chops because dry pork chops just suck.

Serve the pork chops with the apple/onion mix on top. I like to think of it almost like a sauce. A really chunky, delicious, sweet and tangy sauce.

As a side to this, I served some roasted sweet potatoes. I took two sweet potatoes, peeled and cut them up into bite size pieces, tossed them in just a smudge of olive oil, salt, garlic powder and onion powder then cooked them in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes. (I like to make sure they are nice and done and not crunchy in the middle.) But you could really serve this with any side that you'd like. Rice or couscous I think would be pretty tasty. And definitely add something green like a side salad or vegetable because then you have a really pretty plate!

After we had dinner, some friends came over and we had a great night of playing Magic and Catch Phrase. It was a great end to the day.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new recipe!