Cider-Maple-Dijon Pork Chops: Another One-Pot Oven Meal

Here's a meal you can start with frozen pork chops, put in the oven, and ignore.  Maple syrup and mustard are surprisingly good flavor partners for pork.  Add some apple cider and cider vinegar and you have a wonderfully tasty concoction for bringing flavor to boneless loin pork chops and assorted vegetables.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless loin pork chops
• 1 shallot or other mild onion, thinly sliced
• 8-12 mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 carrots, sliced
• 2-3 stalks celery, sliced
• 1/4 cup maple syrup, preferably Grade B
• 1/4 cup apple cider
• 1/4 cup cider vinegar
• 2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Procedure:

1. Lay the shallot or onion slices in an 8" x 13" glass roasting pan.
2. Place the frozen or thawed pork chops on top of the onions.
3. Layer the other vegetables around the pork chops.
4. Mix together the maple syrup, cider, vinegar and mustard and pour over the chops and veggies.
5. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 350°F for 30-45 minutes depending on how frozen the pork was.
6. Uncover the pan, flip the pork chops and spoon the juices and some of the veggies over them.
7. Return to the oven for another 30-45 minutes.

The cooking time for this is imprecise.  The long cooking time enables the pork chops to become tender and the vegetables to soak up some of the flavors.  The only thing to watch is that you don't let the liquid boil away.  If it seems to be loosing too much liquid, recover the pan for the end of the cooking.