ArcaMax

My Summer Vacation

It’s located in the woods, on 20 acres with a pond. An idyllic setting. Gardens all around. Walking paths and places to just sit and take in the view. There are bird feeders filled to the brim. About a hundred goldfinches arrive daily to take in the bounty. You can just sit and listen to lots of other birds or even spot a bunny hopping along, or even a toad.

This is where I went on my summer vacation. And this is what I did...

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Pork Loin Chops with a Sizzlin’ Cherry Sauce

Related Recipes at PlanZDiet.com:

Stuffed Pork Loin Roast
My Mom's Meatloaf

This is a ZReduction recipe. This dish comes together quickly. Two pans and voila! If you don’t like spicy food you can leave the cayenne out. It does give a nice little zip to the sweet cherries though, so you might consider leaving it in or just cutting it back.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 pork LOIN chops. 6 – 8 oz each. Trim the fat off the sides.
5 Tbl of shallots, minced
½ cup of chicken broth (with no sugar)
1 can (15 oz) of tart cherries packed in water. If you cannot get the ones packed in water be sure to rinse them very well, drain, and then add a ¼ cup of water to the pan to make up for the juices missing.
A pinch of cinnamon (or to taste)
A pinch or two of cayenne (or to taste)
2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
¼ tsp of Truvia. You can add a bit more of you like, but once you are used to less sugar in your food you won’t need it.
olive oil spray
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For the sauce:

Spray a medium sauce pan and put in the shallots. Cook on medium just to loosen them. Add all of the ingredients except for the loin chops and keep cooking on medium to meld the flavors. Toward the end I used my wooden spoon to break up some of the cherries so they made a mushier sauce. I left most of them whole, though. I cooked this about 10 minutes.

For the chops:

In an ovenproof pan* (like a cast iron one), spray and set the heat on medium high. Put your chops in. Spray the tops of the chops and sprinkle on grated sea salt and pepper. Saute the one side for three minutes. Flip them over and season the other side. Then put them in your 400 degree oven to roast for about 15 minutes more or until your meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. That will leave them lightly pink in the middle and juicy. If you want to cook them more well-done, I’ll leave that up to you.

*if you don’t have cast iron you’ll have to take the chops out of your saute pan and put them in another oven–proof container; like Pyrex. If you don’t, you’ll ruin your pan by melting it in a very hot oven. I highly suggest you buy a cast iron saute pan. They are inexpensive, last forever and work great for dishes like this. I use mine almost every day.

Spoon the sauce over the loin chops and serve with salad greens. I actually skipped dessert the first time I made this. I felt quite satisfied.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola