Recipes

French Pork Chops with Blueberry Sauce

Blueberries impart pure flavor in a reduced garlic-and-herb sauce served over seared pork chops.

Adding blueberries to savory meat dishes seems novel, even trendy—yet Native Americans historically used a rub of crushed, dried blueberries on their meats as a means of preservation. Here, the goal of this continental cuisine is purely flavor, beautifully achieved in a reduced garlic-and-herb sauce served over seared pork chops.

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

  • ½ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground sage
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • 4 bone-in center-cut pork loin chops or frenched pork rib chops, cut 1 inch thick
  • ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tsp butter
  • 2 tsp vegetable oil
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Fresh rosemary sprigs, for garnish

Directions

  1. For marinade, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar, rosemary, garlic, salt, sage and pepper. Reserve ¼ cup marinade for sauce. Place pork chops in a resealable plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over chops. Seal bag and place in a baking dish. Marinate in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight.
  2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Remove pork chops from marinade and discard marinade; pat dry and let stand at room temperature 15 minutes. For blueberry sauce, in a small saucepan combine reserved marinade, blueberries and water. Bring to boiling over medium-high heat and cook 4 minutes or until reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in butter until melted. Set aside.
  3. In an oven-going skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add pork chops and cook about 2 minutes or until browned. Turn chops. Spoon ½ tablespoon of the blueberry sauce over each chop. Transfer skillet to oven and bake 6 to 8 minutes or until internal temperature of chops reaches 145°F. Serve chops with mashed potatoes and top with remaining blueberry sauce. Garnish with rosemary sprigs, if desired.

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