Mondays on Main St. – Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

Tags

apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, food, mondays on main st, onions, pork chops, recipe, red wine vinegar, white wine

Time was not on my side while making our dinner.  Or maybe you could say daylight wasn’t on my side.

Thank you so very much for having some patience with my photos in today’s Mondays on Main St. post.

Let’s push on and talk about technique.

Have you ever found a certain recipe or cooking technique that works so well (read: everyone enjoys their dinner + complaining is kept at a minimum) that you just repeat it with a few variations here and there?

If ain’t broke, right?

Well then, we are on the same page today you and me.

Several months back I shared this recipe for peach glazed chicken, which is done in the oven (perfect if you’ve got lots going on and can’t stand at the stove top), and it has a very similar list of ingredients to today’s apricot glazed pork chops.

I’ve also shared apricot-glazed chicken thighs (please, no judgement on the photos…they are not very good).  This one is also done in the oven with apricot preserves and cider vinegar.

My friends, there is something about that sweet and sour combo that does it for me every time.

This recipe is so forgiving.  I made it with pork chops, but you could make it with boneless chicken breasts.

Doesn’t that make things easy?

It’s the perfect way to kick off your week.

I used a 1/2 cup of chopped onion.  If your children are horrified at the sight of onions simply leave them out.

You’ll need 4 boneless pork chops (center cut).  Season with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and then brown them in 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp unsalted butter in a hot skillet.  Turn them after 3 minutes and brown for an additional 3 minutes on the other side.  Remove them to a warm plate and cover with aluminum foil.

Once you’ve sauteed 1/2 cup of chopped onions and deglazed the pan with 1/2 cup of white wine, you’ll add 1/4 cup apricot preserves, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar and 1 1/2 tspDijon mustard to the pan, stirring to combine.  Reducing the heat to simmer the apricot-onion mixture.  Return the pork chops to the skillet and nestle them into the sauce, spooning some sauce over each pork chop.  You can garnish each serving with chopped green onions, if desired. 

Apricot-Glazed Pork Chops

 Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp unsalted butter

4 4-5 ounce boneless pork chops

Kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 small onion, chopped (about ½ cup)

½ cup white wine

¼ cup apricot preserves

1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard

green onions, chopped (optional)

Method

In a 10-inch skillet, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat.  Season pork chops with salt and black pepper.  When hot, add pork chops to skillet and brown each side for 3 minutes.  Remove them to a warm plate or platter and cover with aluminum foil.

Add the chopped onions to the skillet and saute until translucent.  Add the white wine to the onions, stirring with a wooden to loosen any brown bits from the pan. Wine should be reduced to nearly half and then reduce heat to low.  Add in the preserves, vinegar and mustard and stir to combine.  Return pork chops to skillet and spoon sauce over each chop.  Let chops simmer in sauce for 2 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat.  Transfer pork chops to serving platter, pour sauce over each and garnish with chopped green onions.

Serves: 4