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Overhead view of a cut, pan-seared pork chop on a light gray plate with a glazed roasted apple and sage leaves, on a butcher-block surface.

Pan-Seared Pork Chop with Rye and Cider Glaze and Roasted Apples

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Thick bone-in pork chops, dry-brined and seared in cast iron. A cider and rye glaze built in the same pan, and roasted apples finished in that pan.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Dry Brine 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 2
Course: Entree, Meat
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the Pork
  • 2 bone-in pork rib chops 12 to 14 oz each, 1½ inches thick, fat cap left on
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper freshly cracked
For the Apples
  • 2 apples Braeburn or Pink Lady, halved and cored
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter melted
For the Glaze
  • 1 ½ cups fresh unfiltered apple cider the cloudy kind from the fridge case, not hard cider
  • 3 tbsp aged rye whiskey
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter cold
  • ½ to 1 tsp apple cider vinegar only if the glaze needs it
To Finish
  • 6 to 8 fresh sage leaves
  • flaky salt a pinch

Equipment

  • 12-inch cast iron skillet
  • Small saucepan
  • Oven
  • Wire cooling rack
  • Sheet Pan
  • Instant-read thermometer
  • Tongs

Method
 

  1. Pat the chops dry. Salt both faces and the fat cap. Rack over a sheet pan, refrigerate uncovered overnight, or at least 2 hours.
  2. Put a sheet pan in the oven and heat it to 425°F with the pan inside. Toss the apples in the melted butter and roast cut side down on the hot pan until the cut face is deep brown and the rim has caught dark, 12 to 15 minutes. Reserve the pan juices.
  3. Take the chops out of the fridge about 30 minutes before they go in the pan. Pat them dry and pepper them.
  4. Meanwhile, boil the cider in a small saucepan until reduced to about ½ cup, 8 to 12 minutes. Set aside.
  5. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high, no oil. Not ripping hot, and no weight on the chops. Stand the chops on their fat caps, leaning them together, and render until deep gold, 2 to 3 minutes.
  6. Lay the chops flat. Leave the first side alone for 2 minutes, then flip and sear the other side the same way. Keep that frying sound going, and if the pan smokes, turn it down. The fond should be brown, not black. Rest the chops on a wire rack over a sheet pan for 4 minutes.
  7. Probe the thickest part, away from the bone. If it is under 140°F, sear and rest again the same way. At 140°F, rest the chops on the rack about 10 minutes while you build the glaze. It carries over to 145°F.
  8. Pour off the fat to about 1 tablespoon. Fry the sage in it over medium until crisp, 20 to 30 seconds, and drain on paper.
  9. Add the reduced cider and the apple pan juices to the skillet and scrape up the fond. Add the rye and keep the glaze boiling until a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a line that closes slowly and the bubbles are large and slow. Stop looser than you want it on the plate, because it tightens as it cools.
  10. Turn the heat to low. Add the resting juices and the cold butter and swirl until the butter disappears.
  11. Add the chops and the apples, apples cut side down. Turn the chops every 20 to 30 seconds, spooning glaze over the apples, until the glaze holds on the chop. Take the pan off the heat. Taste the glaze and adjust with vinegar, a few drops at a time.
  12. Carve the chops off the bone and fan them on one board with the bones alongside. Set the apples around, cut side up, spoon the rest of the glaze over, and top with the sage, flaky salt and a crack of pepper.

Notes

For seasoning, I always use Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you use Morton, use half.
The dry brine has its own time above. Two hours is the least. Overnight is best.

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