Peaches and Pork Chops

Jamie Oliver, you have done it again.  Won my heart with your devilishly handsome good looks and charming style and my taste buds with your simple and delicious recipes. 

I try and have dinner with my sister and her family a couple times a month. Even though we live less than ten minutes away from each other arranging these dinners is often difficult with my ever changing schedule and her need to not vary away from my one year old nephews schedule.  When we do get together it is almost always at her house and consists of me stopping in after work, which means that she does all the cooking.  It's always a good meal and good company but can leave me feeling a little guilty for not treating them to my culinary talents.  Since it's the holiday season and I have some extra time off I decided to take Jackson (my nephew) for a day of bonding.  I knew the afternoon would consist largely of his nap so I planned ahead to spend that time preparing a meal for my sister and her family. 

I had some pork chops in my fridge that I got at an excellent price and really didn't want to have to freeze so they became the focus of dinner.  As I was pondering how to prepair them, outside the normal barbecue flavor that my family is accustomed to, I noticed a naked chef starting at me.  That is, Jamie Oliver's face from the cover of his book The Naked Chef Takes Off.  I grabbed the book and scanned through the pages until I found a pork recipe that suited the ingredient I had on hand.  The following recipe is what caught my interest:

Roast loin of pork with peaches

one 7 rib loin of pork
1 bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked and chopped
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter
salt and freshly ground pepper
8 fresh peaches (or two 16oz cans in natural juices)

His recipe entailed scoring the fat, cutting a cavity between the meat and ribs (bones) and filling it with a seasoned butter and packing it full of peaches.  Binding the meat and roasting in a 425 degree oven for nearly an hour.

Since I didn't have a 7 rib loin of pork but instead 3 pre cut chops (no bones) I altered the cooking method as follows.

Preheat the oven to 425.  Pat chops dry with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.  Mix thyme and butter and rub liberally over meat and place in an oven safe dish.  Drain peaches and reserve the juice.  Roughly chop peaches into 1/2 inch pieces and pour over the pork with the reserved juice.  Cook uncovered for 25 to 35 mins or until internal temp reaches 145.  Remove pork from pan.  Transfer any juices and yummy bits from the bottom of your roaster into a sauce pot, cook with 1/4 to 1/2 cup white wine.  Pour over chops right before serving.   

Wonderful, wonderful recipe.  I think next year when peaches are fresh and in season I will make some more peach butter (it was such a favorite last year).  And this time I will make an extra batch that is infused with herbs specifically so I can use it as a glaze, inspired by this recipe.