Braised Pork Chops with Apples

Putting the chops in to fry.

Confession: I have no clue how to cook meat. I was a vegetarian for half my childhood and all of high school and college. Since then, I've learned how to cook ground beef, but anything more complicated than that leaves me wandering in the dark. So I follow the recipe pretty exactly when it comes to slabs of meat. In this case, that was where I went wrong. That, and the fact that I tried to cook three things at once, which I do NOT recommended to newbie cooks (especially if you're barely keeping your eyes open because you stayed up watching Sex & the City until 1 am the night before). I ended up so stressed I wished I'd saved my one beer instead of putting it in the cheesy beer bread I made to go with the chops. Not to mention that by the time I was done, my kitchen was a disaster area that took another half hour to clean up.

After a minute of searing.

So, on with the chops. I had a package of frozen pork chops my sister had given us after she raised pigs (along with the ham). I looked up how to cook them in Fannie Farmer and followed the recipe pretty exactly. I made the recipe for Braised Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes, but used the apple alternative. Unfortunately, I failed to notice that she said to use 1 1/2 inch thick chops, and mine were more like 3/4 inch. So, when she said to cook them on medium high for 30 minutes, and I cooked them for 25 on low, they still ended up a bit burned in the spot towards the middle of the pan. Luckily I checked them five minutes early or they would have been charred to a crisp.

See the burnt spots? I never claimed I could cook!

Fannie's recipe, with my adaptations:

• Take 4 pork chops (1 1/2 inch thick)
• Coat them lightly on both sides with 1 1/2 tbsp. flour
• sprinkle with salt and pepper
• put 2 tbsp. of butter in a skillet and cook on medium high, 1 minute on each side
• Lower heat to medium, add 2 c. sliced apples (peeled unless they are organic--you don't want to eat what's on a commercial apple skin), cover the pan and cook for 30 minutes. Note the thickness of your chops and alter accordingly so you don't end up with chops like the ones above.

Despite the charring, these really weren't bad. My pan seemed to be sizzling a LOT, so after about 5-10 mins, I turned the heat to low. I'm really glad, too, or I might have caused a kitchen fire or something! As it was, I just scraped off the burned bits and everything tasted fine. My husband just ate his and said he didn't even notice. So they weren't bad. But I will definitely remember the timing lesson next time I make chops!

The apples in the pan with the chops were really good, and probably saved them from getting dried out. Plus, they went really well with the side dish, Braised Red Cabbage and Apples. Even though the chops had a bit of charring, they weren't dry or tough at all. Even my son ate them without complaining about anything but the strips of fat going through the meat. Overall, this is a good, simple recipe for pork chops that I may make again now that I know not to cook them so long (edit: for a more successful cooking experience, see my second attempt here).