dun dun ...dun .. De-glazing...

Every week or so I scavenge through my cookbooks and Pinterest to look for recipes. (FYI I have 397 pins on my recipe board ) yikes. Sometimes I find good ones or semi good ones. but I haven't found a recipe as good as the one I just made in a long time.  This recipe is so simple ( minus de-glazing a pan) and very impressive.  For the last three weeks I have been on an apple kick .. Give me all the apples! or send me all the apples( since the apples here are NOTHING compared to New York or Washington apples.  I could always make apple crisp but I make that alot. I wanted something different ..something savory but also at the same time something sweet.. impossible right?
no..


oh... Whats that knock on the door.. 

Its.. Hard Cider Pork Chops with Apples and Onions! 

All in all this recipe is nothing less than exquisite and perfect. If you take a bite of apple and onion and pork chop the flavors blend together amazingly.  Cooking with pork is so easy. just cook it and give it some color and then do superb things with it. 

Ingredients & Directions 

• 8 thin, boneless pork loin chops (about 2 1/4 lb)

• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

• 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary

• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

• 2 Golden Delicious apples, sliced

• 1 red onion, sliced

• 1 sweet yellow onions, sliced

• 1 cup hard apple cider or regular apple cider 

1. In a small bowl mix together salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic powder. Season both sides of pork chops liberally.
2. In a large heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Place 4 of the pork chops into pan. Cook on one side for 4 minutes until chops are golden brown and releases from pan easily. Cook other side for additional 4 minutes. Take pork chops out and place in baking dish. Repeat with remaining pork chops and set aside when done.
3. Place sliced onions and apples into skillet. Season with pinch salt and pepper. Pour in part of hard apple cider (about 1/4 cup) and de-glaze pan while tossing apples and onions. Add rest of hard apple cider and let simmer for 5 minutes uncovered or until liquid reduces a bit. Add pork chops back into skillet and cover. Turn off heat and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Using tongs, take out pork chops and place in dish. Pour apple and onion mixture over pork chops and serve.

A recipe like this one gives me hope that I can actually cook and make beautiful creations.  As I was reading the recipe I saw that it called for "de-glazing" the pan  ... err what?
Since I've seen Chopped and other cooking shows I knew what it meant, but I had never done it myself.  Something about pouring alcohol in a hot pan .. ehhh doesn't sound so fun? Basically de-glazing is scraping up the meat bits and getting stuff all saucy. ; ) It adds so much flavor and makes you feel pretty darn fancy..  

Yummy<3 

Next I am going to try out this recipe on more people than just one.. Maybe have it at a dinner party (since I have all the fancy plates from the wedding) 

I sometimes wonder why I like cooking so much, you can do so many different things with just a few ingredients. Its fun to see what dishes transform into, and all the new things you can create.  Maybe some day I will go to culinary school. but for right now I am happy teaching myself and learning new things everyday


I also made some cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks using cinnamon chips.. and now I am trying to figure out what to make with the rest of the cinnamon chips.. I'm thinking apple cinnamon muffins but I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any ?

Have a good week you guys!