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Plan Z Phase: This is a Z2 (ZReduction) recipe.

This dish comes together quickly. Two pans and voila. If you don’t like spicy food you can leave the cayenne out. It does give a nice little zip to the sweet cherries though so you might consider leaving it in or just cutting it back.

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 pork LOIN chops. 6 – 8 oz each. Trim the fat off the sides.
• 5 Tbl of shallots, minced
• ½ cup of chicken broth (no sugar)
• 1 can (15 oz) of tart cherries packed in water. If you cannot get the ones packed in water be sure to rinse them very well, drain, and then add a ¼ cup of water to the pan to make up for the juices missing.
• A pinch of cinnamon (or to taste)
• A pinch or two of cayenne (or to taste)
• 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar
• ¼ tsp of Truvia. You can add a bit more of you like, but once you are used to less sugar in your food you won’t need it.

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For the sauce:

Spray a medium sauce pan and put in the shallots. Cook on medium just to loosen them. Add the rest of the ingredients and keep cooking on medium to meld the flavors. Toward the end I used my wooden spoon to break up some of the cherries so they made a mushier sauce. I left most of them whole though. I cooked this about 10 minutes.

For the chops:

In an ovenproof pan* (like a cast iron one), spray and set the heat on medium high. Put your chops in. Spray the tops of the chops and sprinkle on grated sea salt and pepper. Saute the one side for 3 minutes. Flip them over and season the other side. Then put them in your 400 degree oven to roast for about 15 minutes more or until your meat thermometer registers 160 degrees. That will leave them lightly pink in the middle and juicy. If you want to cook them more well-done, I’ll leave that up to you.

*If you don’t have cast iron you’ll have to take the chops out of your saute pan and put them in another oven–proof container; like Pyrex.  If you don’t, you’ll ruin your pan by melting it in a very hot oven. I highly suggest you buy a cast iron saute pan. They are inexpensive, last forever and work great for dishes like this. I use mine almost every day. 

Your Z2 serving of sauce is ¼ cup. This will give you a ½ size serving left for your dessert. I actually skipped dessert the first time I made this. I felt quite satisfied.

Enjoy!

Cheers,