Pork Chops with Pears

I just love a good sauce, and this recipe is all about the sauce.

We start with two cans of pears in 100% juice. Drain the first can into a glass and set it aside, because we’re going to use it for the sauce. The other one can go down the sink, unless you feel like making your kids drink pear juice at breakfast or something.

Start sauteeing the pears in 2 Tablespoons of Fleischmann’s unsalted margarine (not the “original” flavor.) [As always, the brands I use were GFCF at the time of posting, but manufacturers can change their recipes at any time. Always check your labels!] Give them a good 5-7 minutes on each side, until they start getting a nice brown color.

Meanwhile, dice up two shallots. If you’ve never used shallots, they’re like the illegitimate love child of onion and garlic. Little clove shapes like garlic, with layered insides like an onion, and the taste… well, it’s like onion and garlic together. It’s amazingly delicious, is what I’m saying.

Once the pears are golden, set them aside.

In the same pan the pears came from, add another two Tablespoons of margarine and the shallots.

Sprinkle in a rounded teaspoon of thyme, and sautee everything together until the shallots are softened, about 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, start your pork chops in a second pan. (You could also do this with chicken breasts instead, if you want.) Just salt both sides and sautee them over medium heat in a little olive oil, nothing fancy. We’re saving all our fancy for the sauce, you see.

Add 1/4 cup of sweet white cooking wine to the pan of shallots, and let it boil off for a few minutes until it’s reduced to a glaze.

Once it’s nice and gooey, then add in 1/3 cup of the pear juice you saved…

…and also 1 cup of almond milk.

Don’t forget to flip your pork chops, by the way.

Keep simmering the sauce until it thickens. You should be able to drag a spoon through it and leave a hole.

Now I will be the first to admit, this meal is not particularly visually appealing. The three colors are each fine by themselves, I guess, but put together they look terrible. I blame the almond milk; it just makes for an ugly sauce, every time. But please don’t let that stop you from trying this, because the taste–oh, the taste is heaven. The shallots, and the sweetness of the pears, and… seriously, eat the first bite with your eyes closed and try to tell me I’m wrong. You won’t be able to, because you’ll be too busy cramming bites 2, 3 and 4 into your mouth one after the other. It’s that good.

Happy Eating!

Pork Chops with Pears

2-4 pork chops
4 TBS Fleischmann’s unsalted margarine
2 cans of pears in 100% juice
2 shallots
1 rounded tsp. thyme
1/4 cup sweet white cooking wine
1 cup almond milk
1/3 cup pear juice from can