Day 10: Citrus Pork Chops with Roasted Sweet Potatoes

I'm a little behind on blogging, but no need to worry ... I have been cooking. Friday night's dinner was what I call a throw-together dinner. The guy at the meat counter talked me into buying pork chops Thursday because they were such a good deal. So I bought them. It sort of caught me of guard, so I wandered through Central Market with no recipe wondering how I would prepare them and what I would serve with them. Friday afternoon, I was still perplexed. I googled a few pork chop recipes and finally made up my own based on items already in my refrigerator. As far as the sides went, I decided to wing it. Here's the recipe that I threw-together. It was remarkably good although I decided pork chops are not my favorite. This would have been so much more delicious had it been a pork tenderloin. I'll definitely try the marinade on a pork tenderloin soon.

Citrus Pork Chops

Grocery List

• 2 butterflied pork chops
• 1 jar orange marmalade
• 1 cup of reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1 blood orange
• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 bundle of broccolini

Items you probably already have in your pantry/fridge (if not, include them on your list):

• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce (I used a Carolina-style barbecue sauce)
• Lemon juice or fresh lemon
• Minced garlic
• Sea salt
• Fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Marinade:

• At least two hours before (or as early as a day before), prepare marinade and marinade pork chops.
• In mixing bowl, add one small jar of orange marmalade, 1 cup of reduced sodium soy sauce, 1/4 barbecue sauce, 1/2 cup of water. Mix together.
• Add pork chops to a large Ziploc bag, pour in marinade, seal and then refrigerate.

Citrus Pork Chops:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Place marinated pork chops on a jelly roll pan (use non-stick aluminum foil to make clean up easier). (A pan with sides keeps juices in pan).
• Bake for 20 minutes (depending on thickness of pork chops).

Finishing the Pork Chops:

• Add marinade to sauce pan. Turn burner to high.
• Bring marinade to a boil for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often.
• Reduce heat to medium low.
• Slice orange and add orange slices to marinade.
• Continue cooking for another 8 to 10 minutes.
• Add cooked pork chops to plate. Spoon sauce over pork chops.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Wash and peel sweet potatoes.
• Cut potatoes into 1 inch cubes (approximately).
• Spray 9 x 13" baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
• Add sweet potatoes.
• Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until edges brown.

Sauteed Broccolini:

• Wash and cut ends off of broccolini.
• Heat sauce pan to medium high heat.
• Add 1/4 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp of olive oil and 1 pat of butter to sauce pan.
• Heat until garlic is lightly browned.
• Add broccolini, turning every couple of minutes.
• Saute a total of 7 to 10 minutes.
• Squeeze half a lemon over broccolini.
• Remove from heat and serve.