Well, no.
These lovely little chops of pork are not, as it were, fried IN cider, they’re fried in a wee bit of oil.
BUT!
There IS cider involved with turning a couple of lovely, but more than a touch prosaic, chops into a lovely entrée with ‘shrooms in a tangy cider reduction.
Just try and fit all that in a headline.
What happened was; I was on my own for the evening and in search of something to make for dinner when I came across a pint of what I was pretty certain was pork stock from my last batch of ribs in the downstairs freezer – I should start labeling stuff, but I kinda like the sense of adventure involved in guessing…
Irregardless, back to the stock. As I noted in the ribs post, I normally use the clarified, spiced apple stock to make hot and sour soup, but I wanted to try using it as a cooking liquid for rice.
SO, apple based pork stock thawed and ready for some rice, what to do for the rest of dinner? I had these two pork chops in the freezer, some fresh apple cider left over from the Thanksgiving turkey, a couple of emergency cans of ‘shrooms, a half jar of my barbecue sauce to use up, and a classic French recipe.
A plan formed.
INGREDIENTS
Chops:
•2 pork chops – I like bone-in best for the flavor, but you do what you like
•2 tbsp canola oil
•1 cup apple cider
•2 cans sliced ‘shrooms, drained (or, use fresh if you have ’em)
•Salt, pepper, and granulated garlic
Rice:
•1 cup basmati rice, rinsed and drained 3 times
•1 pint pork stock
Add the rice to the pork stock in a rice cooker and push ‘cook’. OR, cook the rice in the stock on top of the stove as you normally would. Then go out and buy a rice cooker.
Add the canola oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat, then season the chops lightly with salt and pepper, and cook for about 5 minutes per side. Remove the chops to a warmed plate and set aside.
Add the drained ‘shrooms to the sauté pan, sprinkle with a bit of pepper and granulated garlic, and cook, stirring, until any liquid has evaporated, they are lightly browned, and just a bit crisp on the edges.
Pour in the cider, bring to a boil and simmer to reduce, then stir in the barbecue sauce.
Add the reserved chops, nestling them down into the ‘shrooms and sauce, then cover and warm for just a minute or so to heat everything through and allow the flavors to blend a bit.
Serve the chops over the rice and top with the ‘shrooms and the cider barbecue sauce.
I sprinkled a bit of chives over all – one does want a hint of color.
This was ample for 2 folk, but if needed, you might could increase the chops to 4 while keeping all the other amounts the same.
Just a thought.