Equipment
Ingredients
Pork Chops
- 4 bone-in pork loin chops, room temperature
- 15 ml vegetable oil
- 30 g unsalted butter, cold
- 2 garlic, smashed
- 4 fresh thyme, whole sprigs
- flaky sea salt
- black pepper, freshly cracked
Apple Scrumpy Sauce
- 300 g bramley apples, peeled, cored, and roughly chopped
- 120 ml scrumpy cider, room temperature
- 20 g caster sugar
- 15 g unsalted butter
Crispy Black Pudding
- 200 g black pudding, crumbled or cut into small cubes
Candied Walnuts
- 60 g walnut halves
- 15 g dark brown sugar
- 10 g unsalted butter
- sea salt
Buttered Savoy Cabbage
- 400 g savoy cabbage, cored and finely shredded
- 30 g unsalted butter
- 30 ml scrumpy cider
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 1070 kcal
- Protein
- 61 g
- Carbohydrates
- 29 g
- Fat
- 79 g
- Fiber
- 6 g
- Sugar
- 20 g
- Sodium
- 790 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 30 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 27 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 14 g
- Cholesterol
- 263 mg
- Potassium
- 1168 mg
- Calcium
- 163 mg
- Iron
- 6.0 mg
- Magnesium
- 102 mg
- Phosphorus
- 635 mg
- Zinc
- 7.9 mg
- Vitamin A
- 212 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 33 mg
- Vitamin D
- 2.4 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 1.4 mg
- Vitamin K
- 71 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 1.4 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 1.9 mcg
- Thiamin
- 1.41 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.90 mg
- Niacin
- 17.9 mg
- Folate
- 98 mcg
- Water
- 325 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Ensure the pork chops have been at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels to ensure a good sear. Wash hands and clean surfaces thoroughly after handling raw pork to prevent cross-contamination.
In a small frying pan, toast the walnuts over medium heat for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add 10g of butter and the dark brown sugar. Stir constantly until the sugar melts and coats the nuts, about 2 minutes. Pour onto a piece of parchment paper, sprinkle with a pinch of sea salt, and leave to cool and harden.
In a small saucepan, combine the chopped apples, 120ml scrumpy cider, and caster sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cover and cook until the apples break down into a chunky puree, about 15 minutes. Stir in 15g of butter. Taste and add more sugar if the apples are overwhelmingly tart. Keep warm.
Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat. Add the crumbled black pudding and dry-fry until it turns deeply crispy and dark, about 5 to 7 minutes. The pudding will release its own oils. Remove the crispy pieces with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate, leaving the flavorful rendered fat in the pan.
In the same skillet with the black pudding fat, add 30g of butter and lower the heat to medium. Add the shredded savoy cabbage, season with salt and pepper, and saute until tender but retaining a slight bite, about 6 to 8 minutes. If using, splash in 30ml of scrumpy cider to deglaze the pan and steam the cabbage slightly. Transfer cabbage to a warm bowl and wipe the skillet clean.
Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add the vegetable oil. Generously season the pork chops with flaky sea salt and black pepper just before placing them in the pan. Sear the chops on one side without moving them until a deep golden-brown crust forms, about 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the chops.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add 30g of cold unsalted butter, smashed garlic cloves, and thyme sprigs to the skillet. As the butter melts and foams, tilt the pan and continuously baste the pork chops with the aromatic butter. Cook until the internal temperature reaches 63 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Fahrenheit).
Transfer the pork chops to a warm resting plate and pour the pan juices over them. Tent loosely with foil and let them rest for at least 5 minutes. This allows the muscle fibers to relax and redistribute their juices.
To serve, create a generous bed of the buttered savoy cabbage on each warm plate. Top with a rested pork chop. Spoon the warm apple scrumpy sauce beside or partially over the pork. Roughly chop the candied walnuts and scatter them over the dish alongside the crispy black pudding crumbles. Serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
- Rendering the fat cap: If your pork chops have a thick rim of fat, stand them upright in the pan using tongs for the first 2 minutes of cooking. This renders out the fat, allowing you to cook the chops in their own savory drippings.
- Scrumpy selection: Traditional West Country scrumpy is still fermenting slightly and has a rough, dry character. If you cannot find authentic scrumpy, use a dry, cloudy apple cider. Avoid overly sweet or commercial clear ciders, as they will make the sauce cloying.
- Basting technique: When basting the pork, pull the pan off the heat slightly so the butter foams but does not immediately blacken and burn. The milk solids in the butter will brown, creating a nutty beurre noisette that perfectly complements the sage and garlic.
- Managing the cabbage: Do not overcook the savoy cabbage. You want to preserve its vibrant green color and a slight textural bite. The residual heat will continue to soften it while the pork cooks.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store components in separate airtight containers to maintain textures.
Reheating: Reheat pork chops gently in a 150C oven until warmed through to prevent drying out. Re-crisp black pudding in a dry pan. Warm apple sauce and cabbage on the stovetop.
Troubleshooting
Pork chops are dry and tough.
Cause: Overcooking. Modern pork is very lean and dries out quickly if cooked past medium.
Fix: Cannot un-cook the meat, but slice it thinly across the grain and serve with plenty of extra apple sauce and resting juices to mask the dryness.
Prevention: Always use a digital meat thermometer and pull the meat exactly at 63 degrees Celsius (145 degrees Fahrenheit). Rely on the resting period for carryover cooking.
Apple sauce is too thin and watery.
Cause: Apples had a high water content or too much cider was added without enough reduction time.
Fix: Return to the heat and boil rapidly while stirring continuously until it reaches the desired consistency.
Prevention: Simmer uncovered towards the end of the cooking time to evaporate excess moisture.
Black pudding burns and tastes bitter.
Cause: Frying at too high a temperature or leaving it in the pan too long.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once burnt. Discard and use bacon lardons as an emergency substitute if needed.
Prevention: Cook over medium heat, watch carefully, and remove it from the pan as soon as it darkens and crisps, as it will continue to harden as it cools.
Cultural Context
Pairing pork with apples is a historic British culinary tradition, leveraging the autumn harvest season's orchard bounty to cut through the rich fattiness of the meat. Black pudding provides an umami-rich, earthy contrast that was historically central to thrifty farmhouse cooking. The addition of scrumpy cider grounds this dish firmly in the heritage of England's West Country, where cider-making has shaped both the landscape and the local palate for centuries.
