Pan Seared Pork Chops with Cherry Salsa
These quick pork chops are “kicked up” with the addition of the cherry salsa. The salsa is a deep red and has a slight bite because of the jalapenos. It does look a little like cranberry sauce, but that’s where the similarity ends.
Honestly, the Cherry Salsa is the star of this recipe. The chops are lightly dusted with flour and pan fried. They’re delish, but the salsa. Man, the salsa.
I use an enormous cast iron skillet (affiliate link) that I was lucky enough to get for Christmas a few years back:
Sure, I need two hands to pick it up.
But, it puts a fabulous sear on the pork chops and goes from the stove to the oven with no problem. It’s size makes it possible to cook all the pork chops, even pounded out, in one pan. I love it!
The Cherry Salsa is excellent on top of burgers and chicken too – but who doesn’t need a new Pork Chop recipe? The salsa also makes a great dip for corn chips – and it’s wildly different, so all your friends will be amazed.
Use a drinking straw to speed along the pitting process. This part is tedious, no lie.
Mix in the onion, jalapeno, salt and lime juice and you are done! You can leave the Cherry Salsa rustic like this or hit it with the immersion blender (affiliate link). For the chops I’d puree it a bit, but for serving with corn chips, I’d leave it like this:
Pan Seared Pork Chops with Cherry Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 boneless pork chops
- 2 tbsp AP Flour
- salt & pepper
- 1/4 tsp Dried thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in oil in large cast iron or other oven proof skillet over medium high heat.
- Trim pork chops and pound to 1" thickness. Salt and pepper each side of pork chop and sprinkle lightly with thyme.
- Dredge each chop in flour, dusting off excess. Immediately place in pan and sear on first side about 5 minutes. Turn chops and put skillet in oven on bottom rack. Bake until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Use instant read thermometer to check they have reached 165 degrees.
- Allow chops to stand for 5 minutes before serving with Cherry Salsa.
Cherry Salsa
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Sweet Cherries
- 4 tblsp Red onion
- 1 medium Jalapeno
- 1 Lime
- 3/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
- Pit cherries. Use a drinking straw to force the pit out of the cherry easily.
- Dice cherries into 1/4"pieces (each cherry into about 8 pieces). Finely chop red onion and jalapeno. Combine all into a medium bowl.
- Zest and juice lime into bowl. Add salt and stir well to combine.
- The salsas can be left as is, fairly rustic, or it can be made smoother using an immersion blender.
- Allow salsa to sit for at least 30 minutes before eating; it will keep well in the refrigerator for several days.
