PREPARATION
A least an hour before cooking, brine your pork chop and let it sit in the fridge until you’re ready. Brining will make your pork chop extra moist and tender (after learning this, I never make ANY pork chop without brining it first. You’ll never have dry pork chops again).
For the brine, get a freezer baggie with a zip lock top (a bowl or pan will work too). Pour in 1 tbsp of salt, 1 bay leaf, a couple of whole black peppercorns, and a smashed glove of garlic.
All of these are optional except for the salt. The salt is the crucial part for a brine. The others you can experiment with. Thyme and rosemary are fun to try as well. Mix them all up and make sure the pork chop is fully submerged. Let sit in the fridge for 1 hour minimum (you really should brine up to 12 hours if you can, but 1 hour will do if you’re really short on time).
After an hour, pull the pork chop out and bring to room temperature. Pat dry. You can add a little black pepper or seasoning, but you don’t need to add any more salt. I usually only add black pepper and sometimes a dash of thyme.
Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
Thinly slice up 1/2 apple.
In an oven safe dish, place 1 tbsp butter in the center then set the pork chop directly on top.
Place the sliced apples directly on top, and the rest pack around the pork chop. Add a healthy dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cook for 25-30 min. or until internal pork chop temperature reaches 140°F (don’t over cook it!).
Plate and drizzle the melted pan butter over everything. That’s it. Really. It’s awesome.
