Pork Chops With Apples And Raisins - cooking recipe

Ingredients

To prepare the Brine
1 gallon water
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sea salt
1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
2 sprigs fresh thyme
To cook the Pork Chops
4 thick cut pork chops
salt & freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
To prepare the Apples and Raisins
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 granny smith apples, peeled & cored, and sliced into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1/4 cup raisins
3/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 pinch dry mustard
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lemon

Preparation

Mix the ingredients for the brine well to dissolve sugar and salt. Pour brine into a zip-lock bag and add the pork chops. Place in a bowl and set in refridgerator for 2 hours. Do not allow to brine longer than 2 hours.
Take chops of the the brine and dry. Season with salt and pepper. Put the 3 tbs olive oil in a large frying pan and heat. Add the pork chops and brown 4 minutes, turn over and brown 4 minutes on the other side.
Place browned chops into a glass baking dish and put in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. They should reach 140-145 degrees in the center.
While the pork chops are in the oven, put the 2 tbs butter in another frying pan and melt over medium heat. Add the apples and thyme to the pan and stir frequently until golden and softened. Add the raisins, the apple juice concentrate, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, mustard, salt, pepper and the juice of the 1/2 lemon. Allow everything to simmer until chops are done.
Serve the pork chops with the apples and raisins spooned on top.