Pork Chops with Apricot-Peach Chutney

I was watching some Food Network over the weekend, and one of the hosts cooked up some beautiful pork chops.  As the name "The Hawkeye Plate" might suggest:  I'm an Iowa boy.  And if there's one thing we do very well in Iowa, it's pork.  So I went out and got two pork tenderloin chops on the bone and found a recipe in a Food Network cookbook that my wife gave me last Christmas.  So this post was brought to you by Food Network ... via Iowa.

The chutney is really a nice spin on the old "pork chops & apple sauce" line from The Brady Bunch.  Pairing a fruit with pork is a really nice combination.  But by using a chutney, I was also able to add a nice floral/spicy element to the dish.  You start with the juice from 1/2 a lemon, 2 cloves of garlic (minced), a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger (minced), 1 stick of cinnamon, 3 tbsp of apricot preserves, and 1/4 of an onion (chopped), all in a microwave safe bowl.  Cover it with cling wrap and microwave on high for 1 minute.  

Carefully remove the foil -- trying ever so hard not to burn yourself with the steam -- and add 1 lb of thawed frozen peaches along with 2 tbsp of dried cherries.  Cover again with the cling wrap and microwave for 2 more minutes on high.  Allow the mixture to cool and stir in 1 tsp of whole-grain mustard. 

My grill was put away for the winter after I fought a blizzard blowing it over 5 times in one afternoon.  So I had to cook the pork chops inside in my Dutch oven.  I would prefer to grill them, but this isn't a bad substitute.  Heat up some vegetable oil over medium-high heat.  Vegetable oil has a higher boiling point, so it won't burn.  Then dry both sides of the pork chops with a paper towel, and season both sides with salt & pepper.  Using tongs, carefully place the chops down in the hot oil.  Leave them alone. Let a nice sear form on the meat, cooking for about 4-5 minutes.  Then add 1 tbsp of butter and carefully flip the chops over.  Cook them through (about 5 more minutes).  Remove them from the heat, cover with a tin foil tent, and set aside to rest about 5 minutes.

If you don't allow your meat to rest, you will cut into it and loose all the delicious juices.  

I served this over a bed of lentils and topped it with the peach chutney.  The pork chop was juicy and really flavorful.  The chutney was both sweet & savory, and provided a really nice compliment to the meat.  The lentils had caramelized onions and were finished with fresh lemon for acidity.  Check back later in the week for a post about that "super food".