Super Easy Dinner: Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

When I first met the hubby, I was a good baker, but couldn't cook much beyond scrambled eggs. Fresh out of Fordham University (in Manhattan) where I'd survived almost entirely on the offerings of our local diner, The Olympic Flame (not to be confused with The Flame just around the corner), I wasn't aware that any New Yorkers actually cooked for themselves. The hubby, then the new boyfriend, had a few years on me and knew his way around a kitchen. He suggested I cook dinner for him one night - yeah, he's always been like that - and I bought some chicken breasts and lemons and hadn't a clue what to do beyond that. Well, that evening, the boyfriend came waltzing through the door and showed me how to whip up lemon chicken - delish!

A week later, I wanted to actually cook for him so I searched the Internet for something tasty and came across a recipe for Pork Chops with Apples and dried Rosemary. The idea was to cover the pork in dried rosemary, cook them in a frying pan and halfway through, add some sliced apples. Now I realize the idea was sound but picking spiky bits of rosemary out of my teeth throughout a supposedly romantic dinner was not.

Flash forward to Sunday night. The hubby, baby girl and I had just returned from our Christmas trip to Amma and Poppy's house (my fabulous inlaws) and we wanted something quick and simple. Of course, I'm always one to suggest dining out, but after four days of relinquishing all control of the kitchen, I needed to cook something. We happened to have some pork chops from Bradley Farm in the freezer. They're pretty thin - about a half inch - so they thawed in two hours. Leftover from our party a few weeks before, I had a bunch of lady apples that needed to be eaten and somehow a bunch of sage had survived for a couple weeks in our fridge as well.

I reached deep down and somehow remembered that first meal and then I thought, hmm that was a pretty good idea. So, I took the pork chops, salted and peppered them, threw them into a frying pan, peeled, cored and quartered the apples and tossed them in chopped sage, cooked it all up and it was really good. You really can't go wrong with combining pork, apples and sage and this dinner proved to be a satisfying and ridiculously easy to make on a cold, lazy night. Enjoy!

Pork Chops with Apples and Sage

(Think Monday night when the kids are screaming, work totally sucked that day and all you want is dinner to make itself. Yes, it will just about do that.)

What You'll Need (for 2 portions):

2 Pork Chops

6-8 Lady Apples peeled, cored, and quartered

12-20 Sage leaves chopped (I love sage and tend to go a bit batty with it.)

Set a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add a splash of olive oil. Salt and pepper the pork chops and set them in the pan salt and pepper side down. Cook about 8-10 minutes until nice and brown, salt and pepper the other side and flip. Toss the apples with the sage and throw into the frying pan. Periodically move the apples around and try to get them brown all around and to absorb all the nice porky juices. Cut into a pork chop to make sure it isn't pink or you can use a thermometer - I tend to be lazy when a roast isn't involved. Once the pork is cooked through, take them out and plate them and cook the apples a bit longer if need be. You want them to be nice and brown and soft, but still holding their shape.

To serve, just dump it all on a plate alongside some buttered noodles and enjoy!

*In case you're wondering, that's baby girl's hand trying to dig in.

Approximate Dinner Cost:
Groceries: $15
Cost per Meal: Serves two plus a hungry toddler:)