How to Cook Sweet Pickled Cherries with Grilled pork Chop

Name: How to Cook Sweet Pickled Cherries with Grilled pork Chop
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: 2

10 mins
1 hour
easy
2

Recipe by

Jeff Baker

Ingredients

for the pork
2 free range pork chops
Sea salt to taste
1 bulb fennel finely sliced
1 Unwaxed lemon juiced
Drizzle cold pressed virgin olive oil
for the cherries
100ml balsamic vinegar
80g honey
1 tsp. fennel seeds
200g cherries pitted
2 tbls. Cherry molasses (or any other molasses will work / optional)
Pinch sea salt & cracked black pepper

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Introduction

Cherries are one of the great wonders of the British stone fruit season, nothing quite says summer like eating plump blache late summer straight from the tree, there are literally hundreds of varieties, 2 more commonly known are black stone and morello, here we go a little left field pickling them to serve alongside grilled pork for a unique sweet and savoury dish paired with shaved fennel with its subtle aniseed flavour pairing really well with the cherries.

Method

grilled pork chop with sweet pickled cherries

Pre heat a griddle, heavy based frying pan or Bbq for direct grilling.
Season the chops liberally with sea salt just prior to cooking then place the chops on the fat to render before searing on the flat sides cooking over high heat turning a couple of times.
Once well coloured cook 4 to 5 minutes each side, when pressing the chops with your thumb it should be slightly firm to touch & a core temperature of 60°C before resting.
Remove from heat & finish by adding a squeeze of lemon then leave to rest in a warm place for half the cooking time before serving.

Simmer all ingredients except the cherries together covered for 5 minutes over a gentle heat until everything is rich & glossy.
Fold through the cherries to fully coat & gently simmer for a few moments.
carefully remove the cherries using a slotted spoon onto a clean flat tray.
Reduce the syrup until rich & sticky then pour back over the cherries.
Store in a sealed jar for up to 1 month.

Serve the chops with a scattering of the pickled cherries & the shaved fennel tossed in a little lemon juice & olive oil.
Drink with a cool glass of a young & fresh Beaujolais Nouveau.