Pork Chops With Pears And Red Onions Recipes

PORK CHOPS WITH PEARS AND RED ONIONS

Steps:

• About 1 ½ hour before serving: Peel onions and cut into 4 part thick wedges.
• Remove outer rows of celery ribs and trim root end.
• About 6-8 inches from root end, cut tops and leaves from celery.
• Cut celery lengthwise into quarters.
• In a 12” skillet over medium heat, add oil and cook onion wedges and celery quarters a few pieces at a time until golden brown.
• With slotted spoon, remove to 12x8 casserole or baking pan.
• Meanwhile, on waxed paper, mix flour and sage.
• Coat pork chops with mixture using hand to pat mixture onto pork chops to coat well.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook pork chops (at the same skillet used for onion) over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
• Place in casserole with vegetables.
• Tuck pear halves around pork chops.
• Stir bouillon into apple juice and pour into casserole.
• Sprinkle pork chops with coarsely ground pepper.
• Cover casserole with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until pork and vegetables are fork tender.
• Sprinkle mixture with salt to taste.

OVEN-BRAISED PORK CHOPS WITH RED ONIONS AND PEARS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil over high heat. Adjust the heat to a gentle boil, and boil until the vinegar is syrupy and reduced to about 1/3 cup. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 425° F. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet with a flame proof handle over medium-high heat. Whack the garlic cloves with the flat side of a knife and scatter them over the oil. Cook, shaking the skillet, until brown, about 2 minutes. Lay the pork chops in and cook until the underside is browned, about 6 minutes. Remove and reserve the garlic cloves if they become more than deep golden brown before the chops are fully browned.
• Turn the chops, tuck the onion wedges into the pan, and continue cooking until the second sides of the chops are browned, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. About halfway through browning the second side, tuck the pear wedges in between the chops.
• Stir the red-wine vinegar and honey together in a small bowl, until the honey is dissolved. Pour the vinegar-honey mixture into the skillet and bring to a vigorous boil. Return the garlic cloves to the skillet if you have removed them. Place the skillet in the oven and roast until the onions and pears are tender and the juices from the pork are a rich, syrupy dark brown, about 30 minutes. Once or twice during roasting, turn the chops and redistribute the onions and pears. Handle the skillet carefully-it will be extremely hot.
• Remove the skillet from the oven. Place a chop in the center of each warmed serving plate. Check the seasoning of the onion-pear mixture, adding salt and pepper if necessary. Spoon the pears, onion, and pan juices around the chops. Drizzle the balsamic-vinegar reduction around the edge of the plate.