RECIPE

Pork Chops with Apple, Fennel and Sage

  • ACTIVE:
  • TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
  • SERVINGS: 4

Boneless, thin-cut pork chops can be fully cooked in three minutes, a fraction of the time it takes to cook thicker chops. Here, F&W's Melissa Rubel Jacobson combines the meat with a few distinctly autumnal ingredients: sage, apple and hard cider.

  • ACTIVE:
  • TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
  • SERVINGS: 4
  • FAST

Ingredients

  • Ingredients
    1. 8 boneless, thin-cut pork chops (1 1/2 pounds)
    2. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
    3. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
    4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
    5. 1 leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
    6. 1 fennel bulb—halved lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced crosswise
    7. 1 Fuji apple—halved lengthwise, cored and thinly sliced
    8. 8 small sage leaves, coarsely chopped
    9. 1 cup hard cider

Directions

  1. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. In a very large skillet, heat the olive oil until almost smoking. Cook the pork chops over high heat, turning once, until browned around the edges and just cooked through, about 3 minutes total. Transfer the pork chops to a plate and keep warm.
  2. In the same skillet, melt the butter. Add the leek and cook over moderate heat until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the fennel and apple and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the sage and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a platter and keep warm.
  3. Pour the hard cider and any accumulated pork juices into the skillet and boil over high heat until thickened, about 4 minutes. Set the pork on top of the fennel and apples, pour the sauce over the pork and serve at once.