lean times

When my husband and I go out to dinner, if a Berkshire pork chop is on the menu, he’ll order it. I’ve noticed both at Wegmans Ocean Township and ShopRite of Wall Township, carries Berkshire pork chops, but a price difference that makes one wonder. At Wegmans, they sell for $19.99/lb. and at ShopRite $6.99/lb. I was willing to pay the $19.99/lb. until I saw ShopRite’s price. Earlier last week, I picked up a pair of chops for supper. Unsure what I was going to do with them, I recalled the New York Times Cooking app recently featured a recipe for citrus-glazed pork chops with gingery bok choy. The recipe wasn’t complicated, used common ingredients and takes 40 minutes, sold!

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For the recipe I needed ginger, rice vinegar, salt pepper, bok choy, a neutral cooking oil, light brown sugar, an orange plus orange juice, shallots and garlic. You’ll need a 12-inch skillet for cooking, so there’s minimal clean up which is nice. The first thing to prepare was the dressing of peeled and grated ginger mixed with the rice vinegar. This dressing goes over the sautéed bok choy. While that was cooking, some brown sugar was rubbed on both sides of the pork chops as well seasoning them with salt. The orange is sliced in half crosswise and placed in the skillet with the pork chops. Once the bok choy was a nice golden color and removed, time to pop the pork and orange in the pan. While that was cooking, shallots were peeled and quartered and garlic smashed. When the pork is nicely browned on both sides and the orange charred, both are removed to a plate and kept warm.

To the empty pan, it’s time to cook the shallots and garlic until brown. I added the liquids and used a spatula to scrap up brown bits on the bottom of the pan. After I had the sauce simmering, I added the pork chops to coat in the sauce and to finish cooking. To serve, the recipe suggests placing the bok choy on a platter along with slices of the pork and any accumulated juices and the pan sauce. As a final touch, squeeze the juice from the charred orange.

The pork chops were fabulous, so tender and juicy. The recipe was simple to prepare and tasty.   This would also be a great dish to serve to guests. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this preparation.

Just a note, Whole Foods has a Prime Member special until Tuesday, November 12th bone-in pork chops for $4.49/lb. (regularly $7.99/lb.) and ShopRite. Has prime center crust pork chops for $2.49/lb. (40% savings). Last summer, a neighbor sent over supper one night of bread pork chops. They were delicious, when I asked her where she got them, she said ShopRite. My local Foodtown has a family pack (3 plus pounds) of center cut pork chops on sale for $1.99/lb.  Therefore, if you don’t want to splurge with Berkshire pork, here several great alternatives to try this recipe.