In a medium sauce pot on high heat add in the candied cherries, ½ stick of unsalted butter, light brown sugar, water, garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, or until the glaze reduces by half.
Note: The glaze may still look thin at this point. This is okay, the glaze will thicken as the pork is baking in the oven.
Preparing the Pork:
While the glaze in cooking, in a large skillet on high heat, add the remaining ½ stick of butter and olive oil. Once the butter has melted, add in the pork chops.
Season the top of the pork with the remaining ½ teaspoon of salt, and ground black pepper.
Sauté the pork chops for 2 minutes, then, flip the pork over and sauté the other side for 2 minutes.
Finishing the Cherry Glazed Pork Chops:
Next, add in the cherry glaze and bring the skillet to a simmer. Cook for 2 minutes.
Finally, place the skillet into the oven and bake the pork chops for 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the pork is 145 degrees.
To Serve:
Serve the cherry glazed pork chops with your favorite grain and a green vegetable.
Notes
Invent Your Recipe: For this recipe, I am choosing to use boneless pork chops. However, boneless chicken breasts, boneless turkey breasts, or lamb chops would work as well.For the glaze, I am using the Candied Red Cherries from Paradise Food Company. This was the perfect pairing because the sweetness and full texture of the candied cherries makes for the best bite.You could also use candied pineapples, orange peel, or crystallized ginger. If you are not a fan of candied fruit, feel free to use fresh cherries, strawberries, blueberries, or pineapple.I paired these sweet cherry glazed pork chops with quinoa and broccoli. However, you could use any grain or vegetable you like. I would recommend brown rice, bulgur, barley, or farro.For the vegetable, I would recommend green beans, asparagus, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, or Brussels sprouts. Use whatever you like or have in the house!