Pork Chops with Ginger Pear Sauce

Recipe

4 pork chops

salt

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1/3c minced shallots

2 Tbsp minced ginger (we used fresh)

1 large pear, peeled and diced

1.5c chicken stock

3 Tbsp cider vinegar

2 Tbsp honey

1/4 to 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary (we used dry)

fresh ground pepper

Salt the pork chops and let them sit at room temperature while preparing the other ingredients.  Heat the oil in a pan until shimmering.  Add the pork chops to the pan, without crowding, searing one side for 3-5 minutes and the other side for 2-3 minutes.  Then lower the heat and cook for about 15 minutes until cooked through.  Remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon of the oil from the pan.  Add the butter, shallots, and ginger and toss to combine.  Cook for 1 minute, then add the chopped pear and toss to combine.  Cook for 1 minute and then add the chicken stock, vinegar and honey.  Bring to a rolling boil and continue boiling until the liquid is reduced by 2/3, about 4-6 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the rosemary and pepper.  Add salt to taste and serve with the pork chops.

Our Review

Yummy!  We loved this one too.   We had issues with the pear mixture not reducing after about 8 minutes and we were hungry so we just ate it.  Still tasted great.  

Source

Cafe Rio's Sweet Pork Barbacoa

Holy cow this was good.

So I was looking online for a recipe like Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa because the salad they have is really good, and I found one.  I had to adjust it slightly, really I just had to adjust the measurements and I had to come to terms with using soda since I haven't had soda in over 17 years.  I'd like to try to find a way to do this again without the soda, if that's possible.

Ingredients

2 lbs pork (okay so maybe I used 5ish pounds of Wegmans' bone in pork shoulder blade roast $1.29 a pound)!

2 cans of coke - not diet (okay so maybe I used two bottles)

1 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 c water

1 four-ounce can diced green chilies 

1 10 or 14 ounce can enchilada sauce (See below)

Okay so this recipe has two steps.  Step one is to marinate the pork.  Mix 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and 1 can of Coke and then marinate it with the pork.  You can marinate it for a few hours or overnight, I did it overnight.  Also, since I used a bottle of Coke I poured in about 2/3 of the bottle.  I put all of this in the crockpot.

Step two is the next day.  Drain the liquid from the crock pot and then pour 1/2 a can of Coke (I did about 1/3 a bottle), water, and garlic salt into the crock pot and cook for 3-4 hours on high.  I did 4 hours and it was fine.  

Pull the pork out and shred the meat.  Again, I cheated and just cut it into chunks.  Empty the crock pot juices and put the pork back in.  In a bowl or blender (I used a blender) mix the other half of the can of Coke (I used 1/3 the bottle), the can of chilies (I used about half a can because I don't like spicy things), 3/4 of the can of enchilada sauce (I used about 3/4 of the 14 ounce can but the original recipe said to use 3/4 of a 14 ounce can - which is about 10 ounces if you get a 10 ounce can), and the last cup of brown sugar.  Pour this mix over the pork and heat it in the crock pot until it is warm.

We made burritos with it (pictured above) and gave some with chips, cheese, and salsa to the neighbor to make nachos.  Next time I'd like to make the salad and I'll be prepared with guacamole.

Our Review

This was good.  The mix in the blender didn't smell anything like what I'd eaten at Cafe Rio so I wasn't very optimistic about it, but once I took the first bite of the meat, I was sold.  It's sweet, and ours really wasn't spicy, probably because I barely used any of the chilies.  We will definitely make this again.

Source

Honey Garlic Pork Chops

Ingredients

1/4 AND 1/8 C honey

3 Tbsp soy sauce

6 cloves garlic, minced

6 pork loin chops, boneless (4 oz each)

In a shallow bowl mix the first three ingredients.  Coat the chops in the mixture.  Reserve left over honey mixture for basting.  Place chops on a greased grill over medium-high heat, cover and cook, basting two times.

Our Review

This tasted good but I did marinate it for about 8 hours first.  We also cooked it on the George Foreman because of bad weather.

Source

Rosemary Pork Chops

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves

2 Tsp coarsely chopped rosemary

3 Tbsp olive oil

4 bone-in pork chops (1/2 inch thick)

Preheat broiler.  Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then stir together with rosemary, oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Rub mixture all over chops.  Broil chops about 4 inches from heat, turning once, until cooked through (about 8 minutes.)  Let stand 5 minutes.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/printerfriendly/Rosemary-Pork-Chops-240946#ixzz2HEvGpOYw

Our Review

We weren't impressed.

Source

Grilled Brown Sugar Pork Chops

Ingredients

1/2 C brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 C apple juice

4 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 Tsp ground ginger

salt and pepper to taste

2 Tsp cornstarch

1/2 C water

6 boneless pork chops

Heat grill on high heat.

In saucepan, combine brown sugar, apple juice, oil, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil. Combine water and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk into brown sugar mixture.  Stir until thick.  Brush grill lightly with oil before placing pork chops on.  Cook over hot coals for 10 to 12 minutes, turning once.  Brush with sauce lightly before removing chops from the grill.  Serve with remaining sauce.

Our Review

I forgot to keep notes on this one but if I remember correctly, I think we liked it.