Pork Chops with Apples and Caramelized Onions

Acid is a necessary addition to any well-rounded dish, but it's especially powerful when used to balance out a recipe that might otherwise taste overly rich - like in this recipe that calls for pork chops with a fat cap. Bone-in or boneless matters less here - simply adjust your cooking times accordingly. But using a chop with an intact fat cap - that layer of rich white fat surrounding one edge of the chop - and balancing that richness with the acid of apple cider vinegar results in a restaurant-quality dish.

When searing any cut of meat with an intact fat cap, trim the cap down to about 1/4" thick. Then, score the fat every inch or so from top to bottom, cutting all the way to the meat. This will help prevent your chops from curling and becoming unevenly browned.

Last tip: We sometimes prefer stainless steel skillets when employing acid in our recipes, but in this recipe, you can also use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Any imperfections in your seasoning may result in metal leaching from the pan into the sauce, and while the trace amounts are not harmful, they can impart a rather undesirable flavor. The longer the acidic ingredients sit in the pan, the more likely you are to see this effect. We think it's generally OK to cook this recipe in a cast iron skillet, because the sauce itself only simmers for a few minutes before being poured over the plated pork chops. So, if you have a really well-seasoned cast iron skillet, we say go for it!

Acid is a necessary addition to any well-rounded dish, but it's especially powerful when used to balance out a recipe that might otherwise taste overly rich - like in this recipe that calls for pork chops with a fat cap. Bone-in or boneless matters less here - simply adjust your cooking times accordingly. But using a chop with an intact fat cap - that layer of rich white fat surrounding one edge of the chop - and balancing that richness with the acid of apple cider vinegar results in a restaurant-quality dish.

When searing any cut of meat with an intact fat cap, trim the cap down to about 1/4" thick. Then, score the fat every inch or so from top to bottom, cutting all the way to the meat. This will help prevent your chops from curling and becoming unevenly browned.

Last tip: We sometimes prefer stainless steel skillets when employing acid in our recipes, but in this recipe, you can also use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet. Any imperfections in your seasoning may result in metal leaching from the pan into the sauce, and while the trace amounts are not harmful, they can impart a rather undesirable flavor. The longer the acidic ingredients sit in the pan, the more likely you are to see this effect. We think it's generally OK to cook this recipe in a cast iron skillet, because the sauce itself only simmers for a few minutes before being poured over the plated pork chops. So, if you have a really well-seasoned cast iron skillet, we say go for it!

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