Pork with Apple—Cream Sauce — Something Quiet After the Smoke Clears

Fourth of July. I smoked ribs for the neighborhood, which has become an annual tradition that I did not intend to start and cannot now stop. Mr. Washington brought his grandkids. The family across the street — the Garcias — brought a cooler of agua frescas. Three of the older Vietnamese ladies from the block came with spring rolls and opinions. My backyard looked like a United Nations potluck, which is exactly what Alief has always been: a neighborhood where everyone came from somewhere else and the food proves it.

But the bigger thing that happened this week was a decision. I called Mrs. Phung at the travel agency on Wednesday morning and said: "Book it. March 2023. Two tickets to Ho Chi Minh City." She said, "Business class?" I said, "Business class." She said, "You're a good son." I said, "I'm a son. The good part is debatable."

The cost is significant. Business class for two, round trip Houston to Ho Chi Minh City with a layover in Tokyo, is roughly eight thousand dollars. That is more money than I have spent on anything that isn't a smoker or a house. But Mai is eighty-three and she hasn't been home in forty-seven years and if I wait until I can "afford" it, I'll wait forever. Some things you don't budget for. You just do them and figure out the money later. This is not sound financial advice. It is sound human advice.

I haven't told Mai yet. I want to have everything finalized — flights, hotel, an itinerary that includes finding her old neighborhood — before I tell her. Because she will say no. She will say she doesn't want to go. She will say it's too expensive and too far and she's too old. And I will have to hand her the tickets and say: "We're going." And then she'll go. Because underneath the refusal is a want so deep it doesn't have words, and we both know it, and neither of us will say it.

Linh knows. I called her Thursday. She cried on the phone, which is notable because Linh does not cry. She offered to pay for half. I said I'd think about it. She said, "Bobby." I said, "Fine. Thank you." Accepting help is something I've learned to do in sobriety. It does not come naturally. It comes necessarily.

Made a massive pot of bún bò Huế for the Fourth — the spicy central Vietnamese beef noodle soup with lemongrass and shrimp paste. It might seem strange to serve hot soup in July in Houston, but Vietnamese people eat hot soup in hot weather because it's believed to cool you down through sweating. Whether this is science or tradition, I don't know and I don't care. The soup was extraordinary. The broth was deep and red and aggressive, the kind of soup that announces itself from across the yard. Three people asked for the recipe. I gave it to all three.

The bún bò Huế fed the neighborhood, but the night after the Fourth — after the cooler was empty and the yard was quiet and I’d sat with the weight of eight thousand dollars and two tickets I hadn’t told Mai about yet — I wanted something small. Something for two people at a kitchen table, not forty people in a backyard. I’ve been making this pork with apple-cream sauce on evenings when I need the act of cooking to be calm: a skillet, a few apples, heavy cream, and the sound of something just barely simmering. It’s the kind of dish that doesn’t announce itself from across the yard. That night, that was exactly what I needed.

Pork with Apple-Cream Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 4 boneless pork loin chops (about 6 oz each, 3/4-inch thick)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium apples (Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. Season the pork. Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels. Season both sides evenly with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes while the pan heats.
2. Sear the chops. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pork chops and sear without moving them for 4 minutes per side, until golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature 145°F). Transfer to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
3. Build the base. Reduce heat to medium. Add the butter to the same skillet. Once melted, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 minutes until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
4. Add the apples. Add the apple slices to the skillet and stir to coat. Cook for 3–4 minutes until the apples begin to soften and take on a little color at the edges.
5. Deglaze and simmer. Pour in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the thyme and Dijon mustard. Let the mixture simmer for 2–3 minutes until the broth reduces by about half.
6. Finish the sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low. Pour in the heavy cream and stir to combine. Simmer gently for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
7. Return the pork. Nestle the pork chops back into the skillet along with any resting juices. Spoon the sauce over the top and let everything warm together for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
8. Serve. Plate the pork chops with generous spoonfuls of the apple-cream sauce over the top. Garnish with fresh parsley. Serve alongside egg noodles, mashed potatoes, or steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 430 | Protein: 36g | Fat: 26g | Carbs: 14g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 460mg