Bourbon Maple Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Let's talk about pork chops shall we? My only experience with pork chops were the chewy and tough ones my mother made as a kid (no offense mom), cooked in cream of mushroom soup. Chops can be hard, especially boneless ones because they cook quickly and don’t have a ton of fat to help with moisture.

Because we buy a whole pig each year and have it butchered locally, I have cuts of meat that I wouldn't necessarily buy at the grocery store. It's a good exercise though and while I have many failures, when I have a win, I feel like I need to share it because maybe you need a new recipe too.

My pork chops were quite thick, so I cut them in half length-wise so they were about an inch thick. I made a marinade of bourbon (you could also use a light beer or chicken stock if you don't want to cook with alcohol) soy sauce, ginger, maple syrup and Worcestershire sauce. The marinade made the chops super flavorful and tender and the apples and onions sautéed in all that pork goodness gave the dish a subtle sweet and rich finish without being heavy. I roasted some sweet potatoes and cauliflower and called it dinner. Aaron LOVED this dinner, the kids gave mixed reviews but that probably had more to do with the cauliflower than the meat.

Bourbon Maple Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

• 4-6 boneless pork chops trimmed to 1-inch thickness

• 3 tablespoons bourbon

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• 2 teaspoons grated ginger (about a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger or you can find prepped ginger in the freezer section now along with lots of other herbs)

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

• 2 medium or 1 large Fuji apple, thinly sliced

In a bowl, whisk together the bourbon (or beer or chicken stock), olive oil, maple syrup, ginger, soy and Worcestershire sauce. Salt and pepper pork chops, then submerge them in marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for up two hours or in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.

In a large sauté pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil over medium-low heat. Cook pork chops for about 3 minutes on each side so they have crisp edges and are golden brown on each side. (Don't worry about them being cooked through yet). Remove the chops from the pan and set aside. Pour the remaining marinade into a small pot and simmer on low until it reduces by a third.

In the same pan, sauté onions and apples over medium-low heat for 5-6 minutes until the onions are translucent and the apples begin to soften. Put the chops back in the pan with the apples and onions and drizzle the pan with a couple tablespoons of the reduced marinade. Turn the heat to low and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the chops are cooked through. To serve, place a pork chop on a dinner plate and spoon apples and onions over it. Drizzle with the pan sauce and serve immediately.