Pork cutlets with braised red cabbage and apples

The bacon imparts smokiness and the orange zest infuses the cabbage with a delicious bitterness.

Pork cutlets served with braised red cabbage and green apples Credit: Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

This combination of pork and cabbage is a classic one. I especially like the depth of flavour in the braised cabbage: the bacon imparts smokiness and the orange zest infuses the cabbage with a delicious bitterness. I love using organic pork cutlets because of their fresh, clean flavour and juiciness — the addition of green apples reminds me of my nanna, for some reason, and their sweetness balances out the lovely sourness of the vinegar.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 125 g (4 oz) bacon with rind, cut into 1 cm (½ in) dice
• 8 golden shallots, finely sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• ½ red cabbage, finely sliced
• 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), cut into julienne
• 5 tsp raw sugar
• ½ cup red wine
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 4 small green apples, peeled, cored and grated
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp finely grated orange zest
• 4 x 200 g (6½ oz) organic pork cutlets
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, extra
• pinch of cracked white pepper

Serve as a main meal for 4

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Add bacon, shallot, garlic and half the salt, and sauté over high heat for about 5 minutes, or until bacon is lightly browned and crisp. Add cabbage and capsicum and sauté for a further 3 minutes. Add sugar and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until mixture starts to caramelise. Add wine, vinegar, apple, bay leaves, orange zest and remaining salt. Cook gently, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cabbage is softened.
3. Meanwhile, drizzle pork cutlets with the extra olive oil and seal on both sides, in a hot frying pan, until golden brown. Transfer pork to a roasting tin and bake for about 8 minutes, or until just cooked through. Remove from oven and leave to rest in a warm place for 10 minutes. Remove pork from roasting tin and slice, reserving pan juices.
4. To serve, arrange pork on a platter with the braised cabbage. Drizzle with reserved pan juices and sprinkle with pepper.

 

Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

This combination of pork and cabbage is a classic one. I especially like the depth of flavour in the braised cabbage: the bacon imparts smokiness and the orange zest infuses the cabbage with a delicious bitterness. I love using organic pork cutlets because of their fresh, clean flavour and juiciness — the addition of green apples reminds me of my nanna, for some reason, and their sweetness balances out the lovely sourness of the vinegar.