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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Grilled Pork Chops with Peach Chutney

I have a great friend named Lindsey. Lindsey is great for many reasons, but one of them is that she likes me and my kids to come over to her house so that my kids can mess her house up and she can feed me food. It's a pretty sweet deal. One time, between bites of a white bean soup, Van spilled her tomato seedlings she was sprouting for her spring garden. Lindsey demanded that I sit down and just enjoy my soup and not clean up after Van. Okay lady, you don't gotta tell me twice.

Last summer, Lindsey had the most amazing peaches at her house. Juicy, sweet and tart and buxom. One day, Lindsey made the children some sandwiches for lunch and she cut up a bunch of peaches for the kids. And then I ate them all. While the children dined on their PB and Js, I went to check on them frequently, each time taking peaches from their little plates.

Unappreciative children don't need peaches of that caliber, I do.

They don't appreciate the perfect balance of firm and soft nor the amount of juice dripping down their hands.

They don't need a peach so perfectly sweet, I do. So I did.


If you had a box of peaches of that stature, I would hope they wouldn't end up in this chutney. It's true, I hope you just eat them. In this cruel world, there are more good peaches than there are superior peaches. Use your good peaches in this. This chutney is sweet and savory at the same time. Honey helps create a thick, sweet texture and Worcestershire adds that tang only Worcestershire can add. Pork always pairs well with fruit, so that is what I did. The pork chops are marinated in an apple cider vinegar marinade to aid in tenderizing and it does just that.




For the marinade
:
1 1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds black pepper
1/2 tsp Montreal steak seasoning
A few bone-in pork chops

In a medium bowl, combine olive oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, salt, pepper and steak seasoning. Whisk well to combine. Add pork chops, being sure to coat each one in marinade. Cover and put into the refrigerator and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 6 hours.

Heat grill to medium high heat. Remove pork chops from the marinade and discard the marinade. Grill each pork chop for 3 minutes on each side, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Serve eat pork chop with a spoonful of the peach chutney on top.

For the chutney:
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 cups diced peaches, about 5 small peaches
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp kosher salt
Splash of hot sauce
1 lemon, zested

In a medium skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil runs quickly in the pan, add the shallot and garlic. Saute until the shallot is softened, about 2 minutes. Add the diced peaches and saute for 1 minute more. Pour in the honey, soy sauce, Worcestershire, ginger, salt and hot sauce. Stir well to combine and simmer for 10 minutes, until the sauce is thickened and the peaches are broken down a bit. Remove from heat and add lemon zest. Pour chutney into a small bowl and set aside until serving.

Yields enough chutney for 6 pork chops.

Rookie's Notes: Let me remind you that the most tender pork is going to still be pink inside. Pork isn't like chicken. When it is cooked through, it is still slightly pink.

Also, if you want to quickly peel the peaches, do this. Set a pot of water on to boil. Once boiling, add the peaches. Let them bob around in the boiling water for about a minute. While you wait for them, get a big bowl and add some ice cubes and cold water. Once the peaches have been in the boiling water for 1 minute, take them out with a slotted spoon and put them directly into the ice water. Now, all you have to do is slip off the peach peel. It should slide off really easily.

If you are a frequent reader of this here blog, you know that this is my third recipe for putting pork and some kind of fruit sauce together. Yes, I also have developed recipes for Grilled Pork Chops with Apricot Onion Sauce and Pork with Pear Chutney. I promise I am done indulging myself. Will you be the one to stop me from putting pork and fruit together? Sometimes I need someone to slap my hands and tell me no. Like my friend Donna is in charge of making sure Ethan and I don't get anymore cats. We have killed too many of them. But that is a different story for a different day. But I will say that it is very true that antifreeze kills cats.


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3 comments:

Megan said...

"the children?"

Really?

MamaDonna said...

Oh geez! The poor cats...we tell Spock (our current cat) stories about your cats and remind him that Ethan is a phone call away (the cat doesn't understand the distance between here and Utah). It keeps him pretty well behaved :P

GKB said...

Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! I'm going to try this tonight with some home grown peaches! What a lovely blog! you are so funny!