A Delicious Fall Recipe

I bought some pork chops on sale at Albertsons for $.99 a pound. I was so excited. The problem was that I really only had one recipe that I cook with pork chops, Butter Baked Rice and Pork Chops. I wanted to find something different. I went onto allrecipes.com and found this beauty.
(The best part of allrecipes.com is that you can change the servings sizes and they do all the calculations for you a big plus when I size recipes up for the extended family or down for just Mike and I)

It was easy to make and it won over the family. Gabe said that he wants this on the off Sundays that we don't have roast. A big bonus was that it made my house smell like fall and since the weather is cooling off (I know that 5 degrees shouldn't count, but anything in Mesa is fabulous) and I have the doors and windows open, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Caramel Apple Pork Chops

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes
Yields: 8 servings

8 (3/4 inch) thick pork chops
2 teaspoons oil (I used olive oil)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup unsalted butter
4 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons chopped pecans (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees F. Place a medium dish in the oven to warm.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brush chops lightly with oil and place in hot pan. Cook for 5-6 minutes, turning occasionally, or until done. Transfer to warm dish, and keep warm in the preheated oven.

3. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt and pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add butter to skillet, and stir in brown sugar mixture and apples. Cover and cook until apples are tender. Remove apples with a slotted spoon and arrange on top of chops. kepp warm in the preheated oven.

4. Continue cooking sauce uncovered in skillet, until thickened slightly. Spoon sauce over apples and chops. Sprinkle with pecans.

I doubled the brown sugar mixture to make more sauce and it turned out well. I also cooked the pork chops until they were done and it took longer than 5 to 6 minutes, but they were pretty thick and I had a lot of them.

In case you want the butter Baked Pork Chop and Rice recipe, here goes:

Butter Baked Rice and Chicken or Pork
Ann Despain

2 cups rice
2-3 T. butter
2 cups water
2 tsp chicken bouillon paste or 1 cube bouillon
2 cups water
1 lb thawed uncooked chicken or pork chops
Garlic Salt

Add first three ingredients and cook until butter is melted. Sprinkle the mixture with garlic salt. Bring mixture to a boil. Turn down. Check in 30 minutes. Add more water if needed. Cook until chicken is no longer pink, rice is soft and water is soaked up.

This recipe is a family favorite and is great with pork or chicken. My dad even just makes the rice to go with Sunday dinner sometimes.

Enjoy!