Alton Brown – Serves 4

There was a time when Sherry, my sister, did everything in her power to avoid going into grocery stores. So Leonard, her husband at the time, would pick up the fixings for their family dinners, and for months, he would only come home with pork chops and peas. 

Maybe it was his favorite recipe, maybe he found comfort in the consistency, or maybe it was being on the spectrum. And believe me, that man is on the spectrum. Once, he insisted on explaining to me how many cubic feet of air were in a basketball as it related to a dam in Oroville. When I told him, he was making my brain hurt. He said: “I know, but I’m going to tell you anyway.” (No judgment, just a search light onto what it was like for my sister to live with him.)  

So it wasn’t any surprise that a sane person would reach the end of their rope. On one fateful day, Sherry broke down in tears and announced her extreme dislike for his dried-out, flavorless pork chops and frozen peas.  Little did she know then that a brine could have fixed the problem. Brining pork chops enhances their flavor by seasoning them as well as keeping them tender and juicy. I’m not sure Sherry will ever be ready to face another pork chop in her lifetime, but this is a good recipe, and I like pork chops. 

Ingredients

• 2 C Vegetable broth
• ½  C Kosher salt (plus teaspoons)
• ½  C Light brown sugar 
• 2 T Black peppercorns, slightly crushed 
• 1 lb Ice (about 4 cups) 
• 4 1 to 1 1/2-inch-thick bone-in pork chops 
• 2 Apple cut into slices 
• 2 T Olive oil
• ½ Large onion, sliced
• ¾  C Chicken broth
• 1 T Coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 t Dried thyme

Directions for the brine

• Combine the vegetable broth, a half cup kosher salt, brown sugar, and peppercorns in a medium saucepan and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until the salt and sugar dissolve, and then remove from the heat and add the ice. 
• Place the pork chops into a two-gallon zip-top bag along with the brine and seal. Place in a plastic container and refrigerate overnight. 
• Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat dry. Sprinkle on both sides with the remaining two teaspoons of kosher salt. 
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a 12-inch stainless steel sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sauté the pork chops on both sides until golden brown, about five minutes per side. Remove from the pan. 
• Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to the pan, followed by the onions, and sauté until they begin to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add apple slices and cook for an additional 4 minutes. Remove from the pan.
• Add the chicken broth to the pan and scrape the pan to deglaze. Reduce liquid to ½ cup.
• Add the black pepper and thyme and stir to combine. 
• Transfer the pork chops, onion and apple mixture back into the pan, set the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.