Southern style cooking, in particular, embraces an
astonishingly wide array of styles when it comes to preparing pork, including
this savory and delightfully flavorful recipe that incorporates a blend of
spices, peaches, and bourbon:
Four, 4-oz boneless
pork chops (center loin pork chops are the tastiest)
1 teaspoon of salt or no-salt seasoner
¼ teaspoon black pepper (ground)
¼ teaspoon of ground red pepper (or cayenne
pepper)
Cooking spray (flavorless)
1 tablespoon of minced shallots
1 teaspoon of minced garlic (preferably in the
bottle)
1 ½ cups of sliced peaches
½ cup of broth (chicken or vegetable)
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
2 sprigs of thyme
2-3 tablespoons of your
favorite bourbon
2 teaspoons of butter
Use a clean pan or dish to begin to prepare the pork. Once
pork is placed, sprinkle the meat with salt, pepper, and red or cayenne pepper.
Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and place on stovetop at medium heat.
Once sufficiently heated, add the pork and cook for 2 ½
minutes on each side (or until each side is browned). Remove the pork from the
skillet and keep warm in oven or microwave turned off. This is particularly
important since the additional cooking steps will require your pork meat left
alone for at least four-six minutes.
In the same pan, add shallots and garlic and sauté for
approximately 30 seconds. Add peaches and broth—and be careful!—the pan is
likely to sizzle and smoke since it is already hot. Add in the sugar and thyme
and cook for about a minute. Add the 2-3 tablespoons of bourbon to the pan
along with the butter.
Cook until the butter melts completely and sauce has
thickened. Turn off the stove top. Plate your pork chops. Remove the thyme from
the skillet, and pour the peach-bourbon mix evenly over the pork chops on each
plate. Serve with a tasty side dish like asparagus, broccoli, or mashed
potatoes (which are especially great since they will soak up the excess
bourbon-peach juice) and enjoy!
Angie Picardi is a
staff writer at Nerdwallet.com