Orange Balsamic Pork Chops Recipe - A Quick and Easy Pan Sauce

Orange Balsamic Pork Chops

Pork and fruit go so well together, and since you can whip up this very easy pan sauce* in a literally 1 minute – orange balsamic pork chops is a great after work meal that doesn’t sacrifice taste for speed.

I tend to make this with pork chops, but it would go equally well with pork tenderloin or even with a quick loin roast.

Orange Balsamic Pork Chops

• 4 pork chops (any size)
• ½ cup of orange juice
• ¼- 1/3 cup of orange marmalade
• 1 clove of garlic, minced (you substitute an equal amount of fresh ginger for the garlic, if desired)
• 1 or 2 Tbls of balsamic vinegar
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. In a heavy skillet or fry pan, fry up your pork chops as you normally would, until just done (I won’t give you time guidelines here, as the amount of time will depend on the size of your chops and the heat of your pan). Try to get the chops nicely browned on both sides.
2. When cooked as desired, remove the chops to a side plate and drain off all but a tiny bit of the oil from your fry pan.
3. Toss in your garlic to the hot (dry) fry pan and stir briefly, 15 seconds should do it and then immediately add in the orange juice.
4. Bring the juice to a simmer and scrape the pan to get all the tasty browned bits incorporated into your sauce.
5. Add in ¼ cup of marmalade a Tbls of balsamic, and a pinch of salt. Boil until you reach your desired consistency.
6. Taste for seasoning and add more sweet (marmalade), sour, (balsamic) or salty (salt!) as necessary to balance the flavors.
7. Serve over pork chops as a delicious tart/sweet sauce.
8. Gourmet cooking at breakneck speeds – delicious!

*Pan sauces are sauces made from the brown bits that are left after you sauté some meat in a fry pan or skillet (not non stick). These browned bits contain so much meaty flavor, that all you need to do to make a great sauce for your meat is to add a little flavorful liquid (wine, juice, cream etc.) scrape up the browned bits into the sauce, season with salt and possibly herbs and simmer until thickened appropriately. It’s such a great technique – takes only a minute or so to do and can transform a boring every day meal into something very special.