Pork Steak with Dijon Apple Sauce
If I had to pick one fruit/vegetable that represents autumn in my mind, I’d go with the apple. Maybe its the apple picking my family and I did every season when I was younger, maybe it was all of the apple pies–I don’t know, but fall is apple time for me. So rather than the usual ciders and sweets, I thought it would be fun to enjoy a savory apple dish today: Pork Steak with Dijon Apple Sauce.
This was an easy and quick dish to prepare that was amazingly delicious. The pork was juicy and bursting with flavor as that shoulder steak is a really tasty, fatty (as in flavorful!) cut of meat. The sauce I prepared to pair with this has a nod towards South Carolina styled barbecue sauces: something based around vinegar and mustard. The sauce was acidic, tart, mustardy, and wonderfully spiced–and best of all, it had plenty of apple (and a bit of fennel for a hint of anisey flavors). 
In addition to the flavor, I was also pretty proud of how that sauce looks. I mean check out the sheen I got on that sauce–you can practically see your reflection in it. With the good amount of vinegar in that sauce, whisking in a bit of cold butter as the very last step emulsifies small particles of butter throughout the sauce, giving it that nice finish (and flavor, of course!).
- 2 lb pork steaks
- salt
- pepper
- ground cinnamon
- butter
- Dijon Apple Sauce
- 1 shallot
- 4-6 cloves garlic
- 2-3 apples
- 1/4 cup white wine (more as needed)
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- ground cloves
- ground cardamom
- ground thyme
- fennel fronds
- 2 Tbsp dijon
- 1 Tbsp butter
Begin by prepping the veggies–finely mince the shallot and garlic, peel and dice the apple, and season the pork steaks with salt, pepper, and a light dusting of cinnamon.
In a hot pan, melt a knob of butter while the oven warms up to 350°F. Brown the steak on both sides for about 2-3 minutes and transfer it to the oven (I put it on a rack so I could reuse the pan) to finish cooking the meat through (when it reaches an internal temperature of 160-170°F).
While you wait on the pork, now is the time to make the sauce. In the pan with the leftover butter/pork fat, sauté the shallot for 2 minutes, add the apples for another 5 minutes, and finally, add the garlic for a minute or two. Then, deglaze the pan with wine.
Add the vinegar, dijon, fennel fronds, and spices to the pan, simmering for about 5-10 minutes, after which, you should puree this mixture in the food processor. Pour this into a saucepan through a strainer and continue to reduce it over medium heat until you’re happy with the consistency.
When the sauce is done, take it off of the heat and quickly whisk in a cold knob of butter to give it a sexy sheen. Finally, plate the steak, top with sauce, and enjoy!
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