Pork Chops à la Flamande

About the dish

«À la flamande» – in the Flemish style – refers to the slowly oven-baked red cabbage with vinegar and apples that accompanies the chops. The ingredient list in the 1914 edition says «surkaal» (sauerkraut), while the method describes red cabbage; we have followed the method. Note that the cabbage needs up to four hours in the oven and should be started well in advance.

How to make it

1. 1

   Start the red cabbage

   Cut the head of cabbage into fine strips, mix in salt and pepper and moisten with a little vinegar. Place the cabbage in an enameled pot or clay pot greased with a large tablespoon of butter. Put it in the oven at 150 °C (300 °F) and let it cook, covered, for up to 4 hours.

2. 2

   Apples in the cabbage

   Peel the apples, quarter them and cut them into slices. Add them to the cabbage during the last half hour, and stir in a teaspoon of sugar.

3. 3

   Prepare the chops

   Chop the chops from the loin row, one side bone to each. Wipe them with a cloth wrung out in hot water, pound them lightly and shape them nicely.

4. 4

   Marinate and bread

   Drip lemon juice over the chops, season with salt and pepper and let them lie stacked on top of each other for a quarter of an hour. Turn them in melted butter and then in rusk crumbs mixed with finely chopped parsley.

5. 5

   Fry the chops

   Brown the rest of the butter in the frying pan and fry the chops slowly without a lid, about 7 minutes on each side.

6. 6

   Sauce and plating

   Place the chops on a warm platter. Whisk out the frying pan with boiling meat stock and pour the sauce onto the platter. Arrange the cooked red cabbage around the chops and drip boiling meat juices over the cabbage.