This is a dish that I have not found, to date, in any
cookbook or really anything like it online. It was the
brainchild of me being hungry and having
pork chops but not wanting to eat them just skillet-fried because I was bored of those. This is based, very loosely, on a dish I've eaten while
out on the town, or at least my attempt to recreate the flavor. I was highly pleased with how it turned out, enough so that even though it's "my own" I wanted to share.
It turns out with a nice, light fruity flavor, actually by the end more
plum than strawberry, but it tastes very nice and classy for so little effort. Please do let me know if you try this, I'd love to hear if you were as pleased with it as I was.
Do note all ingredient measures are rough, and can be modified "to taste" at will.)
Also do note: the sauce does make enough you could easily do 4 or 6 chops, but my skillet will only hold 2 at a time with all the sauce
Start with 2 good-sized, thick, bone-in pork chops.
Melt 1/4 stick (1/8 cup) stick
butter or stick cooking
margarine in a large skillet. Once sizzling, lightly brown
pork chops, 1-2 minutes on each side until surface is a pale color all over.
Return chops to original side and add to skillet:
- 1/2 stick additional butter. (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, sprinkled over the chops
- 3/4 cup seedless strawberry jelly
- 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon vinegar (I used rice vinegar for tartness with minimal flavor)
Your sauce should cover at least halfway up the side of the chop. If this is not the case, either add water, or more proportionally of each ingredient until it's that high. The closer to the top of the chop the sauce is, the moister and more tender the pork turns out because it absorbs more liquid and dries out less.
Once sauce is melted and mixed fully, simmer on medium to medium-high, covered, for 10-12 minutes, flipping chops and spooning sauce over them every 2-3 minutes.
With 5-6 minutes of the 10 remaining (so that each side gets the additional flavor once), add 1/2 cup
white zinfandel to the sauce, stir well, cover and finish heating.
Spoon a couple spoonfuls of sauce over the top when serving.
I served this with
Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and boiled
cabbage in lots of butter on the side. Probably would also go well with
brown sugar carrots or any other pork-friendly side.