Once upon a time, in the Summer of 2005, I was dripping in sweat from 16 hours of rehearsal. I was craving, and I mean CRAVING, something just mythical for dinner. Walking into the cafeteria that night, I see two giant pigs roasting over fires, almost pirate-style, and pulled pork sandwiches being served up inside. And that’s the day I realized that pork is a sweet, gamey, warm-me-up at night kind of meat with definite stuff-your-face undertones. In a way, this braised sage and apple cider pork chop is an homage to those first sandwiches that opened my eyes to pork. Let’s dive in.
Why do We Braise?
Braising is super simple. Brown food, simmer food, eat food. According to Mark Bittman and his fantastic How to Cook Everything, braising is the most common combined cooking method. But why sear when the meat will already get cooked in the liquid? Answer: Meat that is not seared or browned doesn’t have the greatest flavor, because it can’t get browned. The Maillard reaction is what makes food brown. At very high temperatures (think 350 degrees and above), this reaction rapidly causes proteins and sugars in the pork to unfold and take on very powerful and pleasing tastes and crispy outer textures. Imagine a steak that doesn’t have that crispy browned exterior. Kind of off-putting, right? That’s why this reaction is so important. Braising gives meat a more meaty flavor and an iconic texture through the Maillard reaction and improves food texture and infuses special flavor during the simmering process.
In this case, simmering the pork in apple cider infuses the sweet apple flavors of the cider directly into the meat. For such a simple method (brown, simmer, eat), it does an awful lot of leg work to create a special dish.
But What if I’ve Never Cooked Pork!
No need to worry! Just follow these two guidelines:
- Do your best to find bone-in cuts (the bone enhances flavor and texture because of its collagen content, ability to prevent moisture loss and the fat that it’s almost always connected to. We’ll talk about this another time, though you can refer to The Science of Good Cooking for more information)
- Remember that while many people love pork slightly underdone, many other people have never eaten pink pork and may treat it strangely. Use your meat thermometer and make sure that it’s cooked up to at least 140 degrees (155 degrees if you or your guests are touchy about medium meat) when it’s still on the grill to avoid any issues. Carryover cooking (where food keeps cooking briefly after it’s removed from heat) will bring the internal temperature of the pork up about another 5 degrees while the meat is resting, bringing final temperatures up to 145 degrees and 160 degrees respectively. Cook it past the recommended on-heat temperature, and you risk getting tough and dry meat as your final product. Follow USDA guidelines up to 160 degrees if you’re at all worried about disease.
Trends away from fat of the last 30 years or so have discouraged many Americans from eating the other white meat. If you try to avoid fat (though even the USDA is proposing that there shouldn’t be a restriction on fat in our diets), then know that marketplace trends have made pork significantly leaner today. But pork is making a huge come back, and for good reason. Pork warms you up. It’s neither too heavy nor too light on the tongue, and has a naturally gamey (in a great way) flavor. And when enhanced with the sour, bitter, yet lightly sweet woodsy flavor of the sage and the powerful autumn sweetness of the apple cider, pork exemplifies everything a meat eater craves.
On Sage and Apple Cider
Sage reminds me of the forest where I grew up. Woodsy and rustic and just a little bit like the smell of falling autumn leaves. Fresh sage is preferable because of its citrusy scent and superior flavor, but dried is fine, too, despite having a distinctly different taste. Pro tip: toss sage in at the last minute — it makes all the difference.
And now about the apple cider. I love apple cider. It reminds me of being a kid and going to the apple orchard 30 minutes away from my house for Thanksgiving pies. Anything apple makes me remember that orchard. Apples grown on the premises and made into amazing treats. That’s the kind of thing you should look for when you’re getting your cider. If you can’t find any orchards that make it, that’s alright. But if you can, I highly recommend using that cider in your dish.
And that’s all there is to it!
- 4 pork chops
- 1 quart apple cider (for both cooking and serving afterwards)
- 4 Tbsp butter
- Kosher salt
- 4 oz. sage
- Let pork chops come up to temperature for roughly 10 minutes
- Heat large sized pan over high heat
- When pan is hot, melt butter in the pan
- Season pork with salt
- Place pork into pan and let sear for roughly two minutes on each side (longer if browning has not occurred)
- Pour apple cider in until it covers the pork by about an eighth of an inch
- Let liquid come up to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and cover for 20 minutes
- Remove pork and let rest for 5 minutes
- Serve pork with some of the (now reduced) apple cider on top and with apple cider to drink
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