Mmmmm….Maple Braised Pork Chops.
I do love a good pork chop recipe. Like my favorites Pork Chops with Tomatoes & Sage and Pork Chops with Porcini Mushrooms, I guarantee that this recipe is going into the chop rotation at our house.
After a quick browning in the pan, the chops cook for about an hour in the lovely maple infused sauce until they are tender and delicious. Even though the sauce calls for quite a bit of maple syrup, the chili powder and Worcestershire sauce gives it a little kick and keeps the sauce from being sweet.
Here’s what you need:
Pork Chops, Onion, Garlic, Flour, Olive Oil, Chicken Broth, Maple Syrup, Chili Powder, Apple Cider Vinegar, Worcestershire Sauce, Salt & Pepper. (Fresh Parsley or Chives for garnish, not shown.)
Click here for a Maple Braised Pork Chops Shopping List
Pick some nice, thick bone-in, center cut pork chops – the T-Bone of the pork world. Try to get chops that are at least 1 inch thick if not closer to 1½ inches.
Finely chop 1 small onion (or half a medium) and 1-2 cloves of garlic.
Add 1/4 cup flour to a plate or shallow dish. Dry your chops thoroughly with a paper towel (the secret to good browning is dry meat) and season them on both sides with salt and pepper.
Dredge the chops on both sides in the flour then lightly shake off any excess.
Heat 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Brown the chops for about 3 minutes on each side until nicely golden brown.
Remove the browned pork chops from the pan and set aside. Add the onions, garlic, and 2 teaspoons of chili powder to the pan, stir to combine, and sauté until lightly colored and fragrant, about 1 minute.
Pour in 1/2 cup of chicken broth and 1/2 cup of maple syrup and use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Don’t even think of using anything other than real, pure maple syrup.
Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce,
and 3 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar.
Bring the sauce to a boil then turn the heat down to a low simmer. Return the chops to the pan, cover and simmer for 1 hour. If your chops are extra thick, you might need to increase the cooking time up to an additional 30 minutes. Turn the pork occasionally while cooking to coat both sides in the sauce. The chops are done when they are tender and the sauce has thickened.
To avoid drying out the pork, if the sauce is still on the thin side after an hour, remove the chops and increase the heat of the sauce to medium high and cook, uncovered 3-5 more minutes until thick and syrupy.
Season to taste with salt and pepper then spoon the sauce over the pork chops. Garnish with a little chopped fresh parsley or chives.
Like many of the good recipes I post here, and especially the good pork chop recipes, this came to me via my friend Cody who adapted it from the Williams-Sonoma One Pot of the Day Cookbook
Here’s the recipe:
4 Responses
Awwwwwww, aren’t those yummy? The cookbook I took this from is chock-full of delicious-looking recipes, but this one alone is worth the price of the whole book!
^..^
Yum, yum, yum, yum!!!! 😀
Your chops look amazing! I will try this recipe. I made some this week and they were not as pretty as your…funny though, I made green beans with almonds for a side dish. 🙂 Tres’ magnificent!
This recipe has become a favorite at my house. I personally like the bone-in chop for this dish, but our son had requested boneless chops . . . so, last night, I tried both. I added the boneless chops with about 30 minutes of cooking time remaining; they were tender and very good. I also always serve this with garlic mashed potatoes so that we have a means of soaking up the extra sauce.