It's been an unusually hot and dry spring and summer here in west-central Oregon. I'm terribly disappointed and am really looking forward to some rain. I hear it rains often here. I've yet to see it.
One side effect of the hot weather, besides my disgruntling, is that the blueberry crop ripened a bit sooner than usual, and, most interestingly, all at once. This means that the markets have been flooded with tons of cheap blueberries, all at their perfect state of ripeness.
I've been buying them up and washing then freezing them, because nothing will taste better than yummy blueberries baked into a cobbler in the depths of the grey, wet winter (which they say is coming, but I have my doubts...).
I usually eat the berries with oatmeal or simply right out of the colander after I've washed them. But I can only consume so many of them that way. I looked at the gallon of gorgeous blueberries in my fridge and thought, there should be something I can cook up with them now.
I'm not a strict vegetarian by any stretch, although I eat vegetarian, sometimes even vegan, around three or four nights a week. So that means I'm not a rabid carnivore either. In fact, I haven't eaten beef in six or seven months. I stick to chicken, pork, and the occasional bag of salmon or can of tuna. Just because I can, I always have some form of pork in the freezer.
I pulled out a couple of boneless pork chops tonight and decided that they would be delicious with a savory blueberry sauce. I checked out some recipes on the internet but in the end came up with my own.
Rinse and set aside two cups of fresh blueberries.
Coarsely chop half a large sweet onion and set aside. Finely dice three large cloves of garlic and set aside. Coarsely chop some fresh parsley to get half to one cup and set aside. Coarsely dice some fresh tomatoes and set aside or pour a can of diced tomatoes in a colander to drain (I used canned tomatoes, as I usually do, and they were perfect in this dish). Either way, you want about a cup of diced tomatoes.
Wash and pat dry two boneless pork chops. Drizzle olive oil on a plate and drag both sides of the chops through it. Sprinkle the chops with cayenne pepper and coarse salt on both sides. Pan fry the chops and set aside in a covered bowl to keep them warm.
In the same pan (don't clean or wipe it out), gently fry the onions until they begin to turn clear and golden. Add two tablespoons of honey, two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, the garlic, the tomatoes, and the blueberries. Reduce the heat. Stir frequently. Cook until the mixture becomes thick and the berries begin to open, about 10-15 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the parsley, and stir well. The sauce will be a pleasing dark purple color with bits of red tomato and green parsley bobbing about.
Spoon the sauce over the plated chops and serve with rice or grilled veggies.
In case you think this combination of ingredients sounds weird, keep in mind that the cloying sweetness of the blueberries is rounded out by the acidity of the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. The honey is mainly to assist in carmelizing the sauce although it does add flavor and sweetness. In fact, this balance of sweet and acid is the exact definition of a chutney.
The cayenne pepper on the chops puts a nice edge on the flavor but this dish is not particularly spicy. You could use fresh-ground black pepper if you are wary of cayenne.
If you haven't tried making a chutney, this is an excellent starting point using seasonally fresh ingredients.
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