by Arlos » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:49 am
OK, actually a fairly healthy recipe. Best pork chops evar:
You need:
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 cloves garlic, peeled, then mashed with the flat of a knife blade.
4 large center-cut pork rib chops, each about 12 ounces in weight and 1.25-1.5 inches thick.
1 rather large (or 2 smaller) red onions, cut through the core into 8 total wedges. (1 big onion, cut into 8ths, 2 small one, go for quarters)
2 ripe firm pears, peeled & cored and each cut into quarters (giving you 8 wedges yet again)
salt & pepper.
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey.
You will also need either a large skillet that is oven safe, or a good sized oven dish that can also be used on the stovetop. Personally, I did this one in a big cast iron skillet, worked great.
Put the pan onto the stove, on medium heat, and add the oil. Once the oil has heated up, toss in the garlic, until it is just barely browned, about 1-2 minutes. Now, lay in the pork chops right on top of the oil and garlic, and cook until browned, about 5-6 minutes. If the garlic gets too dark (ie, more than a deep golden brown), pull it out of the pan and hold it back to re-add later. One the first side browns, flip the chops over, and tuck the onion wedges in between the chops and around the edges. Season all 4 chops with salt & pepper. About halfway through browning the 2nd side, add the pear wedges into the pan, tucking them into the gaps where the onions are already.
While the chops are browning, mix the red-wine vinegar and honey together in a small bowl, and mix until the honey is completely dissolved. Once the 2nd side of the chops are finished browning, pour the vinegar/honey mixture over the top of the chops and down into the skillet. Then, turn up the heat, and bring all of the liquid in the pan to a vigorous boil. (there'll be more liquid down there than just that which came from the vinegar/honey mix, trust me.) Now is when you return the garlic cloves back into the pan if you took them out earlier.
Once the liquid in the pan is boiling, take the pan off the stove and put it into a 425 degree oven. You'll want to roast the whole assembly til the onions & pears are tender, and the juices in the pan are a rich syrupy dark brown, which should take about 30 minutes. Once or twice during the roasting process, turn off the timer, take the pan out of the oven, and flip the chops. Baste them with the juices from the pan, and make sure the onions & pears are still evenly distributed and cooking relatively uniformly.
Only has 3 tablespoons of added fat, spread over 4 big pork chops, and it's olive oil to boot. 1 pork chop easily feeds 1 person, and it works just fine re-heated. The sole thing you need to be careful of is not over-cooking the chops, as they can get kinda dry if you leave 'em in too long. The whole sauce and fruit/veggie mix comes out naturally sweet & sour, and there's generally a ton of juices to spoon over everything. Might be worthwhile to serve this one with rice, so you have something to soak up the sauce.
-Arlos