I am a notorious procrastinator. Well, perhaps that is a bit strong because notoriety would imply that a wide number of folks know of my procrastination when it’s probably just close friends and family. Because, so far, I have always managed to slip in under the deadline wire. When I was in school, my best 20-page papers were written in fewer than 24 hours - of course, I had (mostly) done my research but just hadn’t started putting pen to paper- and my best essays and stories got their final -30-, journalistic shorthand for The End, at about 3 a.m., mere hours before they were due. I tell myself I write best under pressure when time constraints don’t allow a bunch of faffing about. As an old professor of mine once said, “Tell ‘em what you are gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, then tell ‘em what you told ‘em.” Introduction, body, conclusion.
Which brings me to this post, which, true to form, I am writing on the day I need to publish it. (Yay for time zones that give me “extra” time.) BUT: Way back in December, just a couple of days after I was given my assignment for February’s Blogger C.L.U.E. Society, where we poke around in someone else’s blog for a recipe that fits our clue or theme – in this case RED – I found THE recipe I wanted to make. And I wanted to make it and eat it so much that I jumped in my car and ran to the store for supplies. These gorgeous pork chops, from Christiane of Taking On Magazines were dinner that very night! The sauce is sweet and spicy and, if there hadn’t been pork chops, I could have eaten it with a spoon. So now you know how to motivate me to move more quickly.
If you haven’t met Christiane yet, you need to pop over and have a browse through her site. It’s full of great recipes that she has tested from a variety of food magazines and cookbooks, so you’ll know what works and what doesn’t, in a normal kitchen, as she says, with “kids underfoot, animals prowling the room, husbands peering over shoulders and all the interruptions that the regular Mom Chef has to face.” Since 2009, she’s shared which recipes worked for her and what she’d change if she made them again, as well as favorites from her multicultural family. And she does it all with a great sense of humor.
The red-hot currant-glazed pork chop original recipe came from Cooking Light Magazine, October 2014, and included a side dish of carrots that I have omitted. Here’s the link to Christiane’s post.
Ingredients
1/2 cup or 160g red currant jelly
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 (6-ounce) bone-in center-cut loin pork chops (Together mine weighed almost half a pound more or 1kg total.)
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Parsley, optional for serving
Method
Combine the first four ingredients in a small bowl and stir well.
Place your pork chops on a large plate and spoon about a quarter of the jelly mixture over them, spread it around with the back of the spoon and turn them over halfway through to put marinade on both sides. Cover with cling film and marinate in refrigerator for one hour. (Mine marinated for about three hours, till I was ready to cook dinner.) Reserve remaining jelly mixture in the refrigerator.
Christiane’s – or possibly Cooking Light’s – instructions say to broil the chops but my broiler is a sad, sad thing that doesn’t give off much heat so I preheated my oven to 400°F or 200°C.
And continued thus:
If any liquid has accumulated in the bottom of your plate, pour it off and discard. Dry the chops lightly with paper towel.
Heat your grill pan to scorching hot and lay the pork chops in on one side for 4 minutes.
Turn them over and pop in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to rest on a warmed plate for about five minutes. Season the chops with the salt and pepper.
Spoon remaining fresh marinade over chops. Sprinkle with a little parsley, if desired.
Enjoy!
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell her that Christiane’s Cherry Port Glazed Pork Loin Roast, Avocado Salad with Spicy Cilantro and Red Chili Salsa, Bistro Steak with Red Wine Sauce and Red Wine Braised Short Ribs were all strong contenders to fit our Red February theme. But the pork chops won!
Many thanks to the organizers of the Blogger C.L.U.E. Society challenge each month, Christiane from Taking on Magazines, Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake and Kate from Kate’s Kitchen.
If you are planning a special meal for Valentine’s Day or perhaps for one of the upcoming red carpet television-watching events, look no further for inspiration. Today, seeing RED is a good thing:
- Bacon & Cheddar Savory Bread Pudding Bites by Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet
- Banana Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins by Aly from Cooking in Stilettos
- Blood Orange Mojito by Anna from Anna Dishes
- Buffalo Roasted Chickpeas by Janet from Cupcakes to Caviar
- Cherry Almond Coconut Bars by Jean from Lemons and Anchovies
- Dark Chocolate Pomegranate Bark by Ramona from Curry and Comfort
- Garlicky Roasted Tomatoes by Azmina from Lawyer Loves Lunch
- Love Potion #9 w/ Raspberry Chambord Ice Cubes by Christy from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
- Madam Wong's Pizza Rolls by Kelli from Kelli's Kitchen
- Negroni by Kate from Kate's Kitchen
- Paloma Naranjada Cocktail by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
- Pomegranate-Lime Granita by Debra from Eliot's Eats
- Raspberry Amaretto Bundt Cake by Liz from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Raspberry-Strawberry Puff Pancake by Alice from A Mama, Baby and Shar-pei in the Kitchen
- Red-Hot Currant-Glazed Pork Chops by Stacy from Food Lust People Love
- Red Velvet Cupcakes by Lea Ann from Cooking on the Ranch
- Roasted Asparagus by Kim from Liv Life
- Strawberry Chia Jam w/ Chia Seed Pancakes by Heather from girlichef
- Strawberry Vanilla Scones by Christiane from Taking on Magazines
- Tomato Herb Compound Butter by Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Turkey Joes by Anna from Anna Dishes
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