Normandy Style Pork Chops

The horrific hurricanes lately made me think back to the destruction here during Hurricane Sandy. It hit while I was in culinary school and my school closed for weeks. There was water damage and no power so it took a while for it to be ready to reopen. I’ll never forget the first day back because I was so happy to be there. I was rusty but we picked up right where we left off. We were studying French dishes and made these incredible Normandy style pork chops for our first dish since the closure. So I decided to make them again as I thought about all of the people recovering and rebuilding after Harvey and Irma the way we did after Sandy.

I browned my gorgeous bone-in pork chops first in olive oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side. They didn’t need to cook all the way through since they were going into the oven afterwards.
After the pork chops finished browning, I browned up a bunch of apple slices. I just sliced up two apples before I used a small biscuit cutter to cut out the middle. It made them such pretty little apple rings. They were the perfect addition to the pork chops since apples and pork work so darn well together.
I piled the pork chops into a baking dish with a sprinkling of bread crumbs, the apple rings, and the most amazing calvados cream sauce. The calvados made this dish quintessentially from Normandy. They use a lot of apples and calvados in that wonderful region. The whole shebang baked for about 20-25 minutes.

When the Normandy style pork chops finished baking, I served them immediately! I plated each pork chop with an apple ring or two before I spooned a generous amount of the cream sauce on top. They were perfect with potatoes and a salad on the side for a fantastic, complete meal. On a more serious note, as I said earlier my thoughts and love are with the people affected by the hurricanes. They helped us through Sandy and I hope we can be just as supportive of them. Please donate and help however you can, whenever you can. xoxo

Normandy Style Pork Chops
Normandy Style Pork Chops
5 from 1 vote
Normandy Style Pork Chops
Normandy Style Pork Chops
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
45 mins
Total Time
1 hr
 

These Normandy style pork chops are so juicy, flavorful and classically French! They are served with apple slices and smothered in apple brandy cream sauce. 

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: French
Keyword: Apple, Normandy Style Pork Chops, Pork Chops
Servings: 6
Calories: 524 kcal
Author: Jeanie and Lulu's Kitchen
Ingredients
  • cooking spray for the casserole dish
  • 1 dash olive oil
  • 6 whole pork chops bone in
  • salt as needed for seasoning
  • freshly cracked black pepper as needed for seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon bread crumbs
  • 2 whole gala apples cored and sliced into 8-10 thin slices, centers cut out to form rings
  • 1/4 cup calvados which is just the fancy name for French apple brandy
  • 1 pint heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 and get out a large casserole dish. Spray it generously with cooking spray. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Season the pork chops generously with salt and pepper, then brown them all for 3-4 minutes on each side. If they won't all fit at once, do 2 batches of 3. As they finish browning, transfer them into the sprayed casserole dish and sprinkle them evenly with the bread crumbs. Brown the apple slices in the same pan as the pork chops for just a couple of minutes and then spread them out on top of the pork chops.
  2. Deglaze the pan with the calvados and scrape up all of the brown bits. Let it reduce for about a minute. Then pour in the heavy cream and let it come to a gentle boil. Once it starts to boil, pour the cream sauce in the casserole with the pork chops and put the dish in the oven to bake for at least 20-25 minutes. This will depend on how thick your chops are. Since they are simmering in the sauce they won't dry out, so err on the side of caution. When they are done, serve immediately with your favorite sides. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Normandy Style Pork Chops
Amount Per Serving (1 pork chop)
Calories 524 Calories from Fat 366
% Daily Value*
Fat 40.7g63%
Saturated Fat 22.5g141%
Cholesterol 168mg56%
Sodium 490mg21%
Potassium 486mg14%
Carbohydrates 14.3g5%
Fiber 1.9g8%
Sugar 8.2g9%
Protein 23g46%
Calcium 50mg5%
Iron 1.1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Normandy Style Pork Chops
Normandy Style Pork Chops

 

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