By Mark Bittman
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus time for marinating
- Rating
- 5(710)
- Notes
- Read community notes
If you thought pork and apples were a winning combination, just wait ‘til you try pork and cherries.
Featured in: Cherries Go Savory, Sweet and Boozy
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 4pork loin chops, preferably bone-inand at least 1 inch thick
- 1tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
- 1teaspoon salt, plus more for the sauce
- 1teaspoon freshly ground blackpepper, plus more for the sauce
- 1teaspoon finely minced garlic
- 3tablespoons butter
- 1tablespoon minced shallot
- 1cup cherries, stemmed, pittedand halved
- ½ cup fruity red wine
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Pat the chops dry, and rub them all over with a mixture of the rosemary, salt, pepper and garlic. Cover, and marinate for up to 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator. Bring the chops back to room temperature before grilling.
Step
2
Heat one side of a charcoal or gas grill, and put the rack about 4 inches from the heat source. Cook the chops over the hottest part of the fi re until well seared on both sides, about 3 or 4 minutes per side. Move them to the cool part of the grill, cover and cook until done, anywhere from 1 to 10 minutes, depending on the heat of the fi re and the thickness of the chops. The pork is done when it’s just fi rm to the touch, its juices run just slightly pink and the meat is rosy in the center, or when an instant-read thermometer registers 135 degrees in the thickest part of the chop (the temperature will continue to rise as the chops rest). Transfer them to a platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let them rest while you make the sauce.
Step
3
Put 1 tablespoon of the butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, add the shallots, and cook until soft, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the cherries, wine and whatever juices have accumulated around the pork chops; cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reduces into a thin syrup, 5 or 6 minutes. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, a little at a time, until it’s incorporated into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chops, and serve.
Ratings
5
out of 5
710
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Cooking Notes
MMNY2
Is there a substitute for the wine in this recipe?
Alexa H
Forgot to say: One way to pit cherries is to take a paper clip, open it up so that it makes an "s," then pull out the larger end of the "s" so that it forms a hook between a capital "L" and a "j". (I'm making this sound too complicated.) Then just push it into the top of the cherry and yank out the pit. Incredibly easy. Have done entire pints worth this way for cherry ice cream.
Jill
Would have been nice to see distinction as to whether cherries to use would be SWEET or Tart cherries. I'm assuming tart are what everyone is using (I would) but still would appreciate chef making correct distinction.
brooklynjen
Excellent & quick. I brined the pork chops for half an hour, skipped the marinating & just rubbed in rosemary and salt before cooking. I don't have grill access so I pan-seared 1" chops 5 minutes minutes, then flipped & put into a 375 oven for 5 minutes more. I added the pan juices to the cherry sauce at the same time as the wine. Perfect.
SuAyres
Another quick & easy way to pit cherries: use a bottle, such as a wine bottle with a narrow neck, & a soda straw (plastic works better); place cherry on bottle top, & firmly push straw through cherry. The pit will fall into the bottle leaving the pitted cherry. Easy, peasy.
Alexandra
Absolutely delicious. I used frozen dark&sweet cherries and a bottle of merlot. I also pan-seared the chops and then finished them off in the oven while making the sauce in the original pan.
Edward Baker
Port is a great sub for wine.
Lisa
We used pork tenderloin that we pounded flat and then grilled. Sauce is excellent, although it's hard to image a bad fresh cherry sauce, but don't skip the butter at the end. I only used half the amount of butter, but it gave the sauce a pretty finish.
Suzanne
I cooked this recipe exactly as stated (on an outdoor gas grill) and it is DIVINE. It was served with oven roasted peaches topped with chopped, cooked pancetta and baby arugula tossed in a garlic sage vinaigrette. The remaining wine (Pensador) used for the cherry sauce was a perfect with the meal. I'd make this for dinner any day of the week & for guests in a heart beat!
Cheryl
Nope, they're sweet (Bing) cherries. I had to backtrack to the original article to learn this, but the lack of any sweetener in the recipe gives you a hint.
Faye
Used frozen cherries instead of fresh, and yellow onion instead of shallots. Reduced butter by 75%. Still turned out fantastic. I also let it simmer for significantly longer than called for--maybe 20 minutes. I liked the cherries a little mushier and incorporated into the sauce.
Peter
Excellent- used butcher quality, bone in chop- combined with the sauce made one fantastic dinner
Lneufeld
This is a great recipe as is. I have also made it with blueberry sauce substituting blueberries for the cherries, which is quite delicious.
Greg Pyke
This is a great addition to the meat/fruit roster. Used dark red cherries which were quite sweet and a pork loin seasoned with a rosemary black pepper mix and roasted at 450 for 15-20 min. Finally, did not have wine so subbed a dilution of 1:3 balsamic : water which worked because cherries were so sweet.
Jim R
Can also use chopstick instead of straw--but still easy. Can use extra cherries to put in brandy and store for 6 wks. Use brandied cherries in a manhattan before dinner.
Isabel
Fantastic dish, and very easy! I didn’t have access to a grill so I just cooked the chops on the stovetop, but they still got a nice sear and cooked quickly and evenly. I could only find frozen sweet cherries at the store, so I used a dryer red to balance the sweetness. The sauce came out perfectly, it was a great complement to the pork but wasn’t overly sweet. This will be a great dish to make for guests since it’s so simple and delicious.
Christina
Used sweet cherries. Felt the sauce wasn’t cherry-forward enough and overpowered by rosemary.
Bill F
I really wanted to love this since I love cherries. I used fresh sweet cherries from our co-op. The sauce was good, but we didn't taste any cherry flavor, just the wine. Might try again with different wine and sour cherries (with a dash of sugar to offset the tartness).
Butterscotch
Red wine substitutes: cherry juice (Trader Joe's sells it), cranberry juice or pomegranate juice. If you're using unsweetened cranberry juice, you will need to add some sweetener since it's really astringent. Just add a bit of sweetener and, if necessary, keep adding and taste as you go until you get the level of sweetness you like.
Hazel
6/23. Good, made as directed, sauce for 4 chops, we had 2.
kareng
Quite good. Use more shallots and cherries, and add 1 TBL balsamic, and added extra rosemary to sauce.
Brian
The first time I tried this recipe I used beautifully marbled chops from the local farmer’s market, and promptly started an impressive grease fire at the step that instructs the cook to place them on the hottest part of the grill. Tried it again with less expensive chops and a slightly cooler grill and produced magic. The recipe is overall great; just adjust the grilling strategy for the fat content of the meat, lest you burninate like I did.
Md45
Perfectly delicious!
Melinda
Very good. I used frozen dark sweet cherries and Zinfandel. Really delicious with the pork.
Cherrie
In winter, used 1/2 cup dried tart cherries instead. Delicious!
Joy
We didn't have fresh cherries but we did have dried cherries. We let them marinate all day in a mixture of port, left-over dry red wine, and a splash of kirsch -- and we used that liquid as the red wine component of the sauce. The cherries and the sauce ended up not too tart, not too sweet, but just right. All quite delish.
Litamommy
I doubled the sauce recipe and I also added a bit of fresh grated ginger! It was superb!
Jim C.
A family-verified winner. Followed the recipe but adding two more bone-in chops, another cup of cherries etc. and cooked in cast iron skillet. Did let the halved sweet cherries marinate with 2 T of Creme de Cassis.Tried them all. The only "easy" way to pit cherries is the (rather overpriced) Leifheit Cherry Stoner. It's worth it if you make a lot of Cherry Clafoutis, Far Breton and other dishes during the season. Halving the cherries helps ensure no pits end up in your finished servings.
marinade shines through
My husband overcooked the pork (no gas grill instructions) but the flavor was great! The cherry sauce was nice, but I might add some more rosemary and garlic to the sauce next time
Luther
Great recipe. Used full recipe for two thick bone-in pork chops. Perfect amounts for the two. Thanks Mr. Bittman.
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