Maple, Apple, And Onion Smothered Pork Chops By Annie Copps

I love pork chops and find them really versatile. I use them in a lot of my cooking repertoire. For this recipe, I use bone-in chops for lots of flavor and thinly cut chops, so that they don't take long to cook. And for today's recipe we are going to quick-braise them using truly New England ingredients. Ring the dinner bell. Delicious.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 bone-in, pork chops, 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick
kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 medium yellow onions, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 or 5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups apple cider
3 cups chicken stock
¼ cup maple syrup
3 firm apples, such as Honeycrisp, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges
Juice of 1 lemon


Directions
Pat pork chops dry with a paper towel and season on both sides with salt and pepper. In a large saute pan with a lid, over medium high heat, add oil and brown chops on both sides; about 3 minutes per side.

Remove chops to a plate.

Lower heat to medium and add onions.

Stir onions often, cooking until softened and browned around the edges, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, thyme, and bay leaves; cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add apple cider, chicken stock, and maple syrup, scraping up any browned bits on pan bottom and bring to a boil.

Lower to simmer. Stir in the apples and return chops to pan, nestling them into the onions and apples.

Cover and cook about 15 minutes (pork will be cooked through and tender).

Arrange chops on serving plates.

Remove thyme stems and bay leaves, and raise heat to high, cooking until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover chops with sauce and serve immediately.
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Annie B. Copps is a senior editor at Yankee Magazine. Annie oversees the magazine's food coverage, both as an editor and as a contributor of feature stories and columns.