SLOW BRAISED PORK CHOPS IN CREAM DIJON APPLE CIDER BRANDY

One Pot Autumnal Cooking

A perfect autum hearty and comforting dish, melt in the mouth tender succulent pork chops braised in apple cider and brandy with Dijon mustard, caramelised apples and onions then finished off with a dash of cream, served on buttery mashed potatoes and when I say buttery I mean 250g salted butter to 1kg of mashed potatoes, it is food law!  Truly spoon food.

Prep 10 minutes / Cooking time 25 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

40g butter

1 glug olive oil

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper

1 onion sliced

5 tsp Dijon mustard

4 pork chops

1 apple sliced

500ml dry cider

100ml-200ml double cream

25ml calvados apply brandy

3 sprigs of thyme

1/2 tsp turmeric 

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 356 F.  Heat a skillet medium hot, add the olive oil and butter and onions, cook for 10 minutes caramelising the onions, move the onions to the side of the skillet   Making room for the pork chops.   Spread 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard on each side of the chops and season generously with salt and pepper, sear the pork steaks each side for one minute including the edge with the rind on.  Pour in the apple calvados brandy to deglaze the pan for just a few seconds then add the the cider, last tsp of Dijon, the sliced apples and thyme sprigs, pop in the oven for 25 minutes.  

To finish the sauce serve the pork chops on your plates, spoon over the onions and apples, then return the skillet to the heat and bring the sauce to a rolling simmer, add the cream and turmeric then reduce the sauce for a minute to slightly thicken, serve over the chops and serve with buttery mashed potatoes.