Pork chops with braised red cabbage

There’s nothing quite like the smell of bacon frying. If I could I’d eat it every day. But I rarely cook pork of any kind. I think it’s because it often turns out tough and dry.

Well, I aim to put a stop to that and cook it properly. There’s a misconception that pork is a ‘white’ meat – it isn’t. It’s merely a very pale ‘red’ meat. Because of that it can be cooked in exactly the same way you would cook lamb or beef – rare, medium or well-done, and then rested for the appropriate amount of time.

This recipe comes from Leanne Kitchen’s book The Butcher – a beautiful cookbook that I have cooked from elsewhere on this site. The book is dedicated to, you guessed it, meat. The recipes are accessible and for the most part easy to make.

Ingredients:

To make the braised red cabbage:

  • 2 tablespoons butter (clarified if you can)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 small red cabbage shredded
  • 1 small apple, peeled, cored and finely sliced
  • 4 tablespoons red wine
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped sage

For the pork chops:

  • 1 tablespoon butter (clarified if you have it)
  • 4 pork chops, trimmed of fat
  • 4 tablespoons of white wine
  • 420 ml of chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons thick cream
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 4 sage leaves

Method:

To make the braised cabbage heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the onion and the garlic and saute over a medium heat until the onion has softened. Add the remaining ingredients and season with salt and fresh ground pepper.

Cover and cook for 30 minutes over a very low heat. Remove the lid and stir over medium/high heat to evaporate any of the liquid.

In the meantime start cooking the pork. Heat the butter in a frying pan, add the pork chops and brown over a medium/high heat for 2 minutes on each side. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour in the wine and stock then cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until tender.

Remove the pork to a warmed plate, cover with foil (loosely) and leave to rest while you finish preparing the sauce.

Strain the liquid from the frying pan then return it to the frying pan. Bring it to the boil so that it reduces by two-thirds. Add the cream and mustard and stir over a very low heat until the sauce has thickened slightly. Whatever you do don’t let the cream come to the boil!!

Place the pork on a warmed plates, drizzle with the sauce and garnish with a sage leaf. Serve with the braised cabbage and roast potatoes (if you want).

Delicious!

Pork chops with braised red cabbage, wine and mustard cream sauce

2 Comments

  1. My partner and I have an ongoing disagreement about pork. I believe it should be moist, tender and flavoursome whereas she thinks that crackling is the be all and end all of pork. Often the two don’t go together. To get around this with things like chops, I cut the skin and bit of the fat layer off. I cut them into strips about 4mm wide and then render them in a dry pan until they are crisp. Then I cook the chops as they should be.

    Pork bellies are another thing that keeps us both happy.

    1. Alan

      Thanks for the comment Thrash – my experiment in getting tender pork chops was not successful in the case of this recipe – due, I think, to the fact that they simmered in the stock for 8-10 minutes.

      They were still delicious and the stock, once reduced and having mustard and cream added, was phenomenally tasty. The red cabbage on it’s own is a great accompaniment.

      I need to keep trying!

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