Monday, May 05, 2014

Pork Loin Chops and Pears are on the menu for Weekday Favorites

Weeknight Favorites is the theme at I ♥ Cooking Club this week. If you are in a hurry and you are a fan of pork chops, this is a recipe I guarantee you’ll have on the table in under 15 minutes. That’s certainly a plus if you get home from work late, or you get home and you are just plain tired. It’s fast and it’s good food.



Usually when you think of fruit and pork you conjure images of apples as that’s such a natural marriage, taste wise. I was intrigued to find this recipe using pears. Now, it was good but perhaps a different variety of pear would make it even better. It wasn’t until we sat down to dinner that I wondered what varieties of pears are available in England. Instead of Bosc maybe an Anjou pear would have been better. I don’t know which sort Nigel used but we will try it different ways in the future.



You know what else goes well with pork (besides apples)? Sweet potatoes. But they take way longer than 10 minutes to cook. So I started two fat sweet potatoes in the convection oven about an hour before we wanted to sit down and eat. Just FYI, this meal went very well with a glass of Vouvray. A wine that’s typically on the sweet side of our preferences but it made an excellent pairing with mingled tastes of pork, pears and sweet potato.




From the book Real Fast Food
Pork and Pears

Ingredients
2 loin pork chops
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (crushed flat and unpeeled)
2 ripe pears, cut into eights and cored, peeling optional
6 TB dry white wine
6TB chicken/veg stock or water

Method
Season the pork with the salt and pepper
Heat the oil and garlic in a pan over a high heat, add the chops.
Seal on both sides
Turn the heat down and add the pears (I used Bosc pears)
Cook until both are tender and browned

Remove chops and pears to a warm plate
Pour most of the fat from the pan and return to the heat
Pour in the wine, scraping away the bits of pork and pear that are clinging to the pan
Add the stock and simmer until reduced by half
Pour over the chops and pears


Join in at IHCC, just click on the icon below and transport over. I can always use some quick weeknight meal ideas. How about you?


Coming up is Wine Wednesday!

12 comments:

  1. Pork chops and pears…..A really nice flavor combination. During the week I need all the help that I can get to get a meal on the table.

    As always, great meal and recipe.

    Velva

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is a great dinner. I love pork and the sweetness of the pears goes nice with this.
    Blessings, Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Pears and pork chops sounds like a wonderful combination and it made such an elegant meal, great for weeknights but company-worthy too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tina, you are so right. I've always seen pork recipes with apples. Never one with pears. This is an interesting combination and I'm sure it worked pretty well. What a great way to have a fuss free dinner but yet taste yummilicious.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pears and pork sounds lovely! I do not cook with fruits that often and this looks like a must-try! Delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I've never thought to use pears with pork...always apples like you said. Nice choice for our theme. Looks like it took way more time and work than it does!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds awfully good. I'm going to be sure to mark this one to try. Love this book!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This does look like a very hearty and delicious meal. I like the pears and how juicy they look after cooking with the pork. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love pork with fruit ...this a nice twist on pork with apples ...pears make a nice change!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love any combination of fruit and meat! This looks very appetizing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Yum. I love pork and pears together and I often throw some pears in near the end when I'm roasting a joint of pork. Great idea putting them in with some chops too, and I love your idea of adding some baked sweet potatoes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have never tried pork with any type of fruit, but I can see how they would go well together. I'm much more partial to pears than apples and I know I'd love this!

    ReplyDelete

Welcome and thank you so much for visiting. If I don't answer you here I will get back to you on your blog. Also have had to switch to approving comments due to some SPAM lately. Alas...

It's been a good run...........