Thursday, March 26, 2009

Blueberry Pork Chops



No I didn't burn dinner. That is actually a very poor quality picture of delicious food that was taken very hastily because I couldn't wait to eat it. I kind have an obsession with all things purple so I was a little more excited than usual to eat dinner. The savory and sweet combo also added to the drool factor.

So far the fella and I have loved everything that has come out of the Silver Spoon Cookbook and this was no exception. It was easy and low maintenance, what's not to love? The problem we have found is that most of the recipes in this book do seem to need a little tweaking so I shouldn't have been so surprised when this one gave me a bit of trouble as well.

I think the problem started with using frozen blueberries. There was no other choice seeing as I don't have a sugar daddy and blue berries are $4 a pint at the moment. Things ultimately worked out on the very tasty side but if you use frozen berries I would suggest extra time to reduce the liquid before and after putting the pork chops in the oven.

Other than spending a lot of time boiling off extra moisture before we could eat, this was amazing. The pork was fall apart tender and the berries gave it a nice sweetness. And of course eating the deep purple meat was a real treat. It went really nicely when a spinach salad topped with tart blue cheese from a local dairy.


Blueberry Pork Chops

4 spare-rib pork chops (I used whatever cut was on sale at Whole Foods)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons oil (I left this out as the butter and pork fat created enough grease)
3/4 cup red wine (1/2 cup if using frozen berries)
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup honey (I used a bit less than 1/4 cup agave nectar which was almost too sweet)


Preheat oven to 400.

Heat butter and oil in small flameproof casserole dish or oven safe pan. Add the pork chops and cook until browned on all sides. Pour in the wine and cook until liquid is reduced by half. Season with salt to taste.

Put the blueberries through the food processor until well chopped then stir in the honey (or agave nectar). Spread this mixture over the pork chops. Put a lid on the casserole dish and place in oven for 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes then serve.

My sauce never thickened so at this point I set aside the pork and put the sauce on a medium simmer uncovered until it thickened to a gravy consistency and spooned it onto the meat.

Original Recipe from The Silver Spoon Cookbook.

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