Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Bing Cherries

From the blog For Love of the Table

6 Boneless Pork Loin Chops (about 6 oz. each)

3 small cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

12 sprigs of fresh thyme

Salt & Cracked Black Pepper

1 to 2 T. olive oil

2 shallots, finely diced

1 T. minced fresh thyme

3 c. Bing Cherries (a generous pound), halved and pitted

2 T. sugar

1/4 c. balsamic vinegar

1/2 c. port

Juice of 1/2 a lemon (or to taste)

2 T. butter

The day before you plan to serve the pork, place the pork in a non-reactive baking dish. Add the thyme, crushing it with your fingers to release its fragrance, along with the garlic. Rub the pork all over with the thyme and garlic. Season generously with salt (about 1/4 t. per chop...more or less, to taste) and freshly cracked black pepper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Heat an ovenproof sauté pan (large enough to hold all of the halved cherries in a single layer*) over medium high heat. Add the oil and then the pork chops. Sear, turning once, until the chops are nicely browned. Transfer the pan to a preheated 400° oven and cook until the chops are done to your liking (an instant read thermometer will read between 130° and 135° for medium). Total cooking time (including the time on the stove and in the oven) will be about 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the chops to a platter.

While the chops rest, make the sauce: Place the pan over medium-high heat and add the shallots and thyme. Sauté until translucent and fragrant—a minute or so. Add the cherries. Cook, shaking the pan, until the cherries are beginning to sizzle. Continuing to shake the pan, scatter the sugar over and cook until melted and beginning to caramelize. Increase the heat to high and add the balsamic vinegar and port. Bring to a boil and cook until thickened. (If the cherries are tender before the sauce is sufficiently reduced. Remove the pan from the heat and using a slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to a plate. Return the pan to the heat and continue to reduce the sauce.) If you are not yet ready to serve the pork, set the pan aside.

To serve, return the pan to high heat and bring the cherry sauce to a boil, adding any resting juices from the pork to the pan (and returning the cherries to the pan, if they have been removed). Taste the sauce and add a squeeze of lemon juice if the sauce is overly sweet or flat in taste. Season to taste with salt and a generous grinding of black pepper. Swirl in the butter and spoon the cherries and their sauce over the pork (you may serve the chops whole, or slice each on a slight angle for a more elegant presentation). Serve immediately. Serves 6

* If you don’t have a sauté pan this large, use 2 smaller sauté pans. Consolidate all of the cherries and reduced sauce to one of the pans for the final warming with the butter and pork resting juices.

(Recipe adapted from The Vineyard Kitchen—MenusInspired by the Seasons, Maria Helm Sinskey)

http://www.forloveofthetable.com/2016/07/pork-chops-with-bing-cherries.html

As published on forloveofthetable.com