Pork Chops with Balsamic Glaze
Beth Ribblett
We had the rare occasion of a Saturday night at home this weekend and I wanted to cook, but didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I had bought some pork chops, not something I make often, there was a nice bunch of kale in the frig and some arugula pesto I had leftover from our most recent DC8 dish. I found a recipe for "Maiale in Agrodolce" a Roman dish that used honey and balsamic vinegar to create a delicious, finger-licking-good, eat-it-with-a-spoon, sweet and sour sauce. Now I've made balsamic glazes before but you have to trust me on how good and how simple this was...
My original thought was to grill the pork chops, but we were out of charcoal so I decided to just use the grill pan on the stove. From start to finish this took me about 45 minutes and even if I had to make the arugula pesto it would have been the same, as there was a little down time and the pesto is quick.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 10-oz. bone-in pork chops
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1⁄3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. honey
4 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 sprig fresh rosemary, torn into 1" pieces
1. Put pork chops on a plate; drizzle with oil; season generously with salt and pepper; let sit for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine vinegar and honey in a 1-qt. saucepan and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1⁄4 cup. Stir in butter and rosemary and set aside.
3. Heat up a grill pan and add a few tablespoons of Olive Oil to keep the pork from sticking.
4. Put pork chops in the grill pan and cook, occasionally turning and basting with balsamic mixture, until browned and cooked through, 12–14 minutes. Transfer to a platter and let sit for 5 minutes before serving.