Day 112, Pork Chops with Dried Cherry Sauce

This was from the same magazine I took yesterdays recipe from, my Cooking Club February/March 2010 issue. I couldn't find pork chops on sale, so I used pork ribs instead.

Pork Chops with Dried Cherry Sauce

4 (6 oz.) boneless center cut pork chops (3/4 inch thick)

1/2 tsp. salt, divided

1/2 tsp. pepper, divided

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup ruby port or cherry juice (I used the cherry juice)

1/3 cup dried cherries

1 1/2 tbsp. raspberry preserves

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled

Sprinkle pork with 1/4 tsp. each of the salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Cook pork 8 minutes or until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F., turning once. Remove pork, cover loosely with foil.

Add cherry juice, cherries, preserves, mustard and thyme to skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pan; boil 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium; simmer 5 to 8 minutes or until syrupy, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

Whisk in butter, any accumulated juices from pork and remaining 1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper. Serve over pork chops.

Serves 4

I seared the pork ribs then baked them in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes to finish cooking. Had they been pork chops, I would have been able to follow the recipe, but because of the thickness, I decided this was the best way to go with them. I don't like cooking with alcohol, so I used the cherry juice. I had a hard time finding all the ingredients at one store; I ended up going to two different ones. WalMart doesn't carry plain cherry juice, but Cub Foods does. If you can't ind just cherry juice, I think the cherry grape juice would work well with this recipe also.

Flavor Rating: Excellent, a flavorful concoction.

Ease of Preparation: Moderate, I hate grease splatters and always get them when I cook with oil.