Pork braised with apple and vegetables

Never had I thought of cooking meat with fruit until I was invited to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner some years ago, in which side dishes were sweet as desserts. I couldn't quite get used to that yet. But this exposure stirred up my curiosity in fruit. My first experiment cooking meat with apple left me with a very pleasant impression. Apple adds a thick sweet and sour flavor to the dish in its very-apple way, making the meat dish even more savory and juicy. It makes such a wonderful cooking material! (While I was typing away, my husband came behind and read today's food journal as he gave me a hug and a kiss. I just heard his burp...)


Recipe: Apple and vegetables braised pork chop (for 2)


Ingredients:
- 2 pork chop, 1.5" thick, about 6 oz
- 1 medium apple with skin, chopped to 3/4" pieces
- 1 carrot, chopped to 3/4" pieces
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped to 3/4" pieces
- 2 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 cup turkey broth
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon (TB) oil
- 1 teaspoon (tp) cornstarch


Procedure:
Brown pork chops in 2 TB oil in a non-stick pan. Then place pork chop on a 1.5 quart sauce pot. Add in chopped apple and vegetables. Heat turkey broth with dijon mustard in the non-stick pan and mix with drippings of the pork. Then add to the sauce pot. Heat sauce pot until the liquid starts to simmer. Then turn heat to low and let braise for about 40 minutes. Place meat along with the vegetables and apple on a serving plate. Thicken the liquid on high heat to about 1/2 cup. Dissolve 1 tp cornstarch in 1 tp water. Mix into the liquid to thicken it into a gravy. Pour onto meat and vegetables. Serve hot.

I used a turkey broth from cooking a Shady Brook Farms turkey, which is already very salted and flavorful. This saved me from adding any seasoning.