Bing cherries are one of my favorite summer
foods. Juicy, sweet, easy to eat out of
hand...they are a perfect snack.
Occasionally in my kitchen a few of them will find their way into a
batch of scones...or a cake...or a tart....
But mostly, I don't cook with them—I just want to enjoy them raw.
That said, one way I do enjoy Bing cherries in their
cooked form is in a compote. I usually
think of a Bing cherry compote as being something for dessert...to spoon over
vanilla ice cream...or accompany a slice of pound cake. But not always. A few years ago I ran across a recipe in one
of my favorite cookbooks for pork tenderloin with Bing cherries. The cherries in this recipe are the
foundation of a reduction sauce that is really just a savory compote....and it
is truly delicious with the pork. Best
of all, if you are willing to pit a few cherries, it is a fast and easy center
piece for a simple summer meal (just roast some potatoes...or make some rice or
couscous...and blanch a green vegetable ... and you have dinner).
I have made only one change to the original
recipe. I use boneless pork loin chops
instead of pork tenderloin. I'm not a
huge fan of pork tenderloin. It tends to
be a bit dry (because it is so very lean)...and its tapered shape makes it so
that it is difficult to cook to a uniform doneness. Either the narrow portion will be overcooked
and dry, or the fatter end will be too undercooked for most people's liking. Pork loin chops don't have any of these
problems.
While on the subject of doneness, I would like to make
a case for cooking pork to a lower temperature than the traditionally
recommended 145° to 160° F. The trichinae
parasite which for many years was associated with pork has been virtually
eradicated in the U.S. Even if you did
have in your possession a piece of pork harboring this parasite, cooking the
pork so that it reaches (and maintains for a few moments) a temperature in the
range of 135° to 140° F will eradicate the parasite. (If you are interested in the technical
details, there is a lot of information on this USDA site.). When I cook pork, I aim for an internal temperature
between 130° and 135°. The temperature
will continue to rise as the meat rests, stopping somewhere between 135° and
140°. Cooking to this lower temperature
range will result in a nice juicy piece of meat. Pork with a final internal temperature much
over 140° can be pretty dry.
Finally, I want to draw attention to the section of
the recipe concerning pan size. It's
very important that the pan be large enough to hold all of the halved cherries
in a single layer. If the cherries are
piled on top of one another (in a smaller pan), they will overcook and fall
apart while the port and vinegar are reducing.
While I'm sure this would taste fine, it wouldn't be nearly as beautiful
on the plate. It is much better to use
two pans than try to crowd everything into one.
The original recipe for this dish is large, and I
should admit that in practice, I almost never make the full recipe. At home I am only feeding two...and neither
of us are very big meat eaters. We find
that one 8 oz. pork chop is sufficient for us...and as long as I prepare a one
third recipe of the sauce to go with our one chop (sliced and divided between
two plates), we are more than satisfied.
I mention this for a couple of reasons:
First, to show that the recipe is quite flexible...that it can be easily
altered to suit your family's needs....and secondly, to point out that all the
pictures for this post were taken with these altered quantities (i.e. 1/6th
recipe of pork...and 1/3rd recipe of the sauce).
If you have never had Bing cherries—or any of the
other dark, sweet varieties that fill the markets during cherry season—in a
savory preparation, you should definitely give this recipe a try. I think that you will find this to be a
dish that you will want to revisit each summer... at least once or twice.
Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Bing Cherries
6
Boneless Pork Loin Chops (about 6 oz. each)
3
small cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
12
sprigs of fresh thyme
Salt
& Cracked Black Pepper
1
to 2 T. olive oil
2
shallots, finely diced
1
T. minced fresh thyme
3
c. Bing Cherries (a generous pound), halved and pitted
2
T. sugar
1/4
c. balsamic vinegar
1/2
c. port
Juice
of 1/2 a lemon (or to taste)
2
T. butter
The
day before you plan to serve the pork, place the pork in a non-reactive baking
dish. Add the thyme, crushing it with
your fingers to release its fragrance, along with the garlic. Rub the pork all over with the thyme and
garlic. Season generously with salt
(about 1/4 t. per chop...more or less, to taste) and freshly cracked black
pepper. Cover loosely with plastic wrap
and refrigerate overnight.
Heat
an ovenproof sauté pan (large enough to hold all of the halved cherries in a
single layer*) over medium high heat.
Add the oil and then the pork chops.
Sear, turning once, until the chops are nicely browned. Transfer the pan to a preheated 400° oven and
cook until the chops are done to your liking (an instant read thermometer will
read between 130° and 135° for medium).
Total cooking time (including the time on the stove and in the oven)
will be about 7 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chops. Remove the pan from the oven and transfer the
chops to a platter.
While
the chops rest, make the sauce: Place the pan over medium-high heat and add the
shallots and thyme. Sauté until
translucent and fragrant—a minute or so.
Add the cherries. Cook, shaking
the pan, until the cherries are beginning to sizzle.
Continuing to shake the pan, scatter the
sugar over
and cook until melted and beginning to caramelize.
Increase the heat to high and add the
balsamic vinegar and port. Bring to a
boil and cook until thickened. (If the
cherries are tender before the sauce is sufficiently reduced. Remove the pan from the heat and using a
slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to a plate. Return the pan to the heat and continue to
reduce the sauce.) If you are not yet
ready to serve the pork, set the pan aside.
To
serve, return the pan to high heat and bring the cherry sauce to a boil, adding
any resting juices from the pork to the pan (and returning the cherries to the
pan, if they have been removed). Taste
the sauce and add a squeeze of lemon juice if the sauce is overly sweet or flat
in taste. Season to taste with salt and
a generous grinding of black pepper.
Swirl in the butter and spoon the cherries and their sauce over the pork
(you may serve the chops whole, or slice each on a slight angle for a more
elegant presentation). Serve
immediately. Serves 6
*
If you don’t have a sauté pan this large, use 2 smaller sauté pans. Consolidate all of the cherries and reduced
sauce to one of the pans for the final warming with the butter and pork resting
juices.
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