Cranberried Pork Chops

My brother insists that I put cranberries in everything, from vegetables to meat. I disagree, but if it's true it's because cranberries are delicious. They are the perfect combination of sweet and tart. They can add dramatic flavor to just about anything in just a small amount of time.

Anyway, I suggest you give these cranberry pork chops a try. I paired them with mashed sweet potatoes and peas for dinner, but I'm sure they'll go well with just about anything.

I saw a version of this recipe somewhere a long time ago. I apologize for not knowing where. This is my version.

Cranberried Pork Chops

4 pork loin chops

1 can whole berry cranberry sauce

1/4 c. chicken stock

1/4 c. + (3 tblsp for slurry) sugar-free cranberry juice 

1/2 c. apricot jam

1 tblsp honey

2 tsp. ground cloves

1 tblsp corn starch

salt and pepper

Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops. Brown both sides of chop in skillet with a little bit of olive oil. You want to get a good sear on the pork chops. Remove pork chops. Add chicken stock and juice to deglaze the bottom of the skillet. Add cranberries, apricot jam (really you could add any sort of jam that would pair with cranberries, think orange marmalade or pineapple), honey and ground cloves. Bring to boil. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and 3 tblsp of cranberry juice and then add it to the skillet. Salt and pepper to taste. Bring back to a boil if needed, then lower temperature to simmer. Place pork chops back in the skillet and simmer for 15-20 mins until sauce has thickened. 

Just in case you didn't know a slurry is just a semiliquid mixture. Here it acts as a thickening agent. All it requires is that you mix cornstarch or flour with a liquid and in this case the juice until it is smooth and contains no lumps. When added to a sauce and boiled it will thicken anything. I don't suggest just adding cornstarch directly to the sauce, because it is difficult to get rid of all the lumps.