Pork chop with Cox’s apple, sage and cream sauce. Photo / Doug Sherring
200ml apple juice
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 pork chops, about 200g each, skin cut off, leaving a 5mm-1cm layer of fat
15g butter, cut into 6 pieces
1 medium Cox's Orange Pippin, peeled, halved and cored, each half cut into 5 wedges
2 tbsp finely sliced sage
125g creme fraiche
Salt, freshly ground black
pepper and sugar
1 Preheat oven to 50C. Put a plate with a rack on it in the oven to rest the pork on. Put a bowl next to the cooker to drain the fat into.
2 Pour the apple juice into a medium-sized saucepan. Boil until the juice has reduced by half. Take the pan off the heat.
3 While the juice reduces, get a medium-sized frying pan. Add the oil and get it really hot. Season the chops with salt and pepper. Use tongs to hold the chops fat side down in the pan and fry for 30 seconds. Lay the chops on one side. Fry for 2-3 minutes over a medium-high heat. Turn. Fry for 2-3 minutes on the other side. Lower the heat to medium. Drain the fat. Add the butter. Fry for 1 minute on each side; don't let the butter burn. Rest the chops on the rack in the oven for 3-5 minutes, turning the oven off and leaving the door slightly ajar.
4 Add the apple wedges to the frying pan. Fry over a low heat for 2 minutes. Turn and fry for 2 minutes until golden brown on both sides. Add the sage. Pour over the reduced apple juice. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute until the juice is thick and almost syrupy. Stir in the creme fraiche and bring back to the boil. Turn off the heat. Season with salt, pepper and a touch of sugar. The sauce needs to be thick enough to richly coat the pork; if it becomes too thick, add hot water, 1 tbsp at a time, to thin it to a spoon coating consistency.
