Ingredients

• Two 6-ounce boneless pork loin chops
• 1 Fuji apple
• 1 celery rib
• 2 to 3 red radishes
• Fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 lemon
• ¼ teaspoon celery seeds
• 4 dried apricots
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon pure Vermont maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

Instructions

Cook the pork
1. Pat the pork dry with a paper towel; season generously with salt and pepper.
2. In a medium frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon oil until hot but not smoking. Add the pork and cook, turning frequently, until browned but still faintly pink within, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate to rest; cover and keep warm, then thinly slice crosswise. Pour off any excess oil from the pan. While the pork cooks and rests, prepare the salad.
Make the apple-celery salad
3. Cut the apple into quarters, cut away the core, then thinly slice the fruit.
4. Trim the ends from the celery; cut the rib crosswise on the diagonal into ¼-inch-thick slices.
5. Trim the ends from the radishes; thinly slice the radishes.
6. Strip the parsley leaves from the stems.
7. Juice half the lemon. In a medium bowl, combine the apple, celery, radishes, parsley, and celery seeds with the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons oil. Toss to coat; season to taste with salt and pepper.
Prep the apricots; make the pan sauce
8. Thinly slice the dried apricots.
9. To the pan used for the pork, add the chicken stock, maple syrup, mustard, and apricots and bring to a boil, whisking or stirring to dissolve the syrup. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a vigorous simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon butter, if desired, whisking until melted. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve
10. Transfer the pork to individual plates, drizzle with the pan sauce, and serve with the apple-celery salad alongside.