Pork chops are a food that I crave in mid-winter, but would seldom think about eating in July. Maybe it brings back vague memories of eating freshly butchered pork in January when I was a child. When I saw an intriguing recipe in the January, 1916 issue of Good Housekeeping for Baked Pork Chops with Apples, I immediately knew that I wanted to try it. The old magazine featured the recipe–and even included a picture.
The top of a baked apple showily topped each pork chop for a lovely, yet decidedly old-fashioned, presentation. The pork chops had a nice, slightly crispy, bread crumb coating with sage undertones that blended nicely with the tanginess of the baked apples.
Here’s how I adapted the recipe for modern cooks:
Baked Pork Chops with Apples
1/2 cup bread crumbs (fine)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
3 pork chops
3 apples
1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) butter
Preheat oven to 375° F. Combine bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and sage. Coat the pork chops with the bread crumb mixture and put in a baking dish or oven-proof skillet. Cut the top 1 1/2 inch off the apples and core. (Reserve the remainder of apple for use in another recipe.) Center a cored apple top on each pork chop; place 1 teaspoon of butter in the center of each apple. Bake for 45 minutes or until the pork chop is thoroughly cooked.
And, here is the original recipe:
A Hundred Years Ago 
This sounds delicious!
The pork chops are yummy.
I just wrote a recipe using pork and apples great minds think alike Sheryl!!! Very nice!
🙂 Somehow pork chops seem like a wonderful comfort food this time of year. I’m looking forward to reading your recipe.
Hi Sheryl, it should post on https://thewisercook.wordpress.com on January 29th, 2016 early a.m. I agree pork is a wonderful winter time comfort food!
Thanks for the link. I’ll look for it on Friday.
OMG! That looks delicious — and just when I’m hungry for dinner.
It is wonderful!
Looks so good, your picture that is!! The black and white doesn’t make the dish very appealing. The first time I tried apples with pork I was a bit hesitant, but I was pleasantly surprised. I was a guest at the table with no choice but to be polite. Good thing other wise I might of passed it by!
I’ve have had similar experiences where I’ve tried new foods because it was the polite thing to do –and discovered that I had been missing some wonderful taste experiences.
This recipe sounds awesome! I never thought of cooking apples with chops! Yum! The old recipes that you share are so much fun! Hugz Lisa and Bear
It’s nice to hear that you enjoy them.
Love that baked apple on top!
It was very visually appealing with the apple on top.
This looks and sounds so good!
It is excellent.
I’ve noticed that the old recipes aren’t too big on detailed instructions. Thanks for testing them out and translating the results to make them more understandable:-)
It seems like there was an assumption back then that cooks were very experienced, and only needed the sparsest of instructions to replicate a recipe. I realized awhile back that different cooks could interpret many of these old recipes in different ways, so I started also including the original recipes in the posts, so readers had the option of making their own interpretations.
I will definitely add this one to my collection. Sage always reminds me of the pork chops and cornbread stuffing mom made. Hope your readers will check out my site too for my pork chops and pears recipe. I wonder what other fruits pair well with pork?
mmm. . . your mother’s cornbread stuffing sounds wonderful. Now that you mention it, this recipe does almost have an “essence” of stuffing with the sage bread-crumb coating but without as many extra calories. Your pork chops and pears recipe looks awesome. I think you are right that pork chops pair well with fruit. I also like to serve them with Crab Apple Chutney or Apple Relish.
You win. Off to the market down the hill for ingredients v got to have this one for dinner guests tomorrow and at the end of the week. Yum. The Apple makes it!!
I think that you’ll enjoy this recipe. You’ll have to let us know how they turn out.
From the comments I’ve read, it seems as though lots of you are surprised about the apples with the pork. In England it’s very common to serve pork with apple sauce, or other apple-y relishes . So this recipe’s not such a stretch as it seems to be over there. What’s a more common accompaniment to pork for you?
hmmm. . . It’s popular to put barbeque sauces on pork. People also often eat pork with no particular accompaniment. In some regions, sauerkraut and pork are popular.
That must be all your teutonic influences, I suppose. Pork’s good with so many things!
I like apples with pork. I wonder if the baked apple gets mushy? Or maybe just like apples in a pie, depends on what type of apple used. I made pork with fried apples (in the pan that cooked the pork) for the first dinner that I made when I was dating my husband. But pork in the summer is good too, especially on the grill with barbecue sauce!
Apple varieties that hold their shape work best with this recipe. I used Braurburn apples, and they worked well. The pork and fried apples that you made sound delicious–and, the story makes me think of the old saying about the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. 🙂
I think it is interesting that the apple cooks right on top of the pork chop. At first I thought it was placed on top after baking. Sounds delicious.
It worked just fine for the apples to cook while sitting on top of the pork chops. The apples were tender by the time the pork chops were cooked.
Wouldn’t you still want to put a little butter in the center of each apple to help brown, add juice, etc.?
Good question – I did put a dab of butter (about a teaspoon) in the center of each apple. I revised the wording of the recipe a little to make it clearer. I didn’t add any juice or water. The original recipe called for adding a little water when the crumbs are brown, but when I made the recipe it didn’t seem like any was needed (though I won’t hesitate to add water if it seems too dry).
Love pork chops all year long. Some of the best I’ve had were at a Russian restaurant, topped with cherries and a cherry sauce.
mmm. . . This sounds like an awesome pairing. My mouth is watering.
Pork and apples are a perfect match. Interesting that the apple is baked right on the pork chop and still the coating doesn’t look soggy at all.
I didn’t have any problems with the coating getting soggy. It’s important to use an apple variety that holds its shape and doesn’t get mushy. I used Braurburn apples.
Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Tonight we are having pork chops baked with sauerkraut. You have inspired me to have applesauce for dessert!
mmm. . . I wish I was at your house. Sauerkraut and pork make a wonderful combination.
I’ve got some leftover pork chop for dinner; but my, doesn’t that sweet-and-savory combo sound awesome! 🙂
The pork and apple combination was wonderful!
I’m very glad! I’ll definitely have to try it sometime. 🙂
Crums? How cute!
It’s interesting how the spelling of some words changes across the years.
I swear, every time I read your blog, I get a blast from the past! I think my grandmother had the same cookbook . . .
Your comment made me smile – and think that I am doing something right. You have such a wonderful way with words.
The original recipe is brief, even to the point of leaving off an unnecessary letter….crums, rather than crumbs. I haven’t eaten crumbed chops in a long while. Happy taste bud memories are coming to the fore. 🙂
I hesitate to admit it, but I often use commercial products like Shake ‘n Bake for Pork when I make pork chops. Making this recipe reminded me of how much better crumbed chops are–and I think that I may have purchased the commercial products for the last time. 🙂