Rachel's Kitchen: A Recipe by John

Scene: I am on my way home from school, rushed as usuaL, to get in and settled and dinner on the table at a reasonable time. I had planned on making a stir-fry that night and asked John to take the porkchops out of the freezer so they could defrost. My plan was to dice it up with some fresh broccoli, garlic, rice, and my "Soyaki" from Trader Joe's for dinner.

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I am distracted as my phone rings and I fumble around for it in my bag while concentrating on not crashing. Its John. "Hi," he says, "can you grab me a few things from the supermarket. I need a lemon, granny smith apple, a bag of craisins, onion, and some garlic." "Sure," I say confused, "what do you need all that stuff for?" The porkchops, he says, and Im confused how all those items fit into my stir fry plan. "I thought we were having stir-fry --" I begin... "Not anymore," he says, "Ill see you in twenty." [End Scene]

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Below is the delicious recipe he made us for dinner on Monday night. It really was a beautiful dish presentation wise -very festive with lots of color, and the spices made it season appropriate. The combination of sweet fruit mixed with lemon zest create a unique dichotomy. A+ Plus, John. An impressive dish!

Grilled Pork Chops & Apple-Pear Chutney

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Pork Chops: 4 fine center-cut pork lion chops

* Apple & Pear Chutney:

• 1 T butter
• 2 Bartlett pears, peeled + cored + diced = ¼ inch cubes
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled + cored + diced
• ¼ Cup finely chopped white onion
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 2 T apple cider
• ½ fresh lemon juiced
• 1 T honey
• ½ Cup dried cranberries (these plump up when cooked! so fun!)
• ½ T of cinnamon
• ½ T of nutmeg
• ½ T of brown sugar
• salt & pepper (to taste)

Make chutney: Heat 1 T butter in medium saucepan. Add the pear, apple, onion and garlic. Cook 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining ingredients through ground ginger, and cook over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

While chutney is going, grill pork chops: sprinkle and rub with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for several minutes on each side until cooked to desired temperature. Remove from heat and let sit several minutes for juices to distribute.

Or in the alternative, remove chop(s) from grill and place in skillet mixed with chutney and cover under low heat for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking time to flavor.

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Just passin' along a great recipe...

Luv, Rach