What's For Dinner - Thursday - Pork Chops with Plum Sauce

This was another attempt at a "real-world" version of an idea that came up on a Cook's Challenge post a few days ago. The core of the challenge was pork loin and plums, and the main idea I came up with was to make the plums into a sauce for the pork. Here's how it unwrapped in reality:

Ingredients:

• Thick-cut pork chops
• 3-4 black plums, peeled, stoned and diced
• 1 medium sweet onion, sliced
• 2-3 Tbsp. vegetable oil 
• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 2/3 cup water
• 1-2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• Pinch each dried oregano and thyme

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or deep skillet until very hot. Add the sweet onion and cook, stirring constantly, until brown and crisp but not burned (add more oil if needed). Remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Add the fried onions and the diced plums to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Combine the brown sugar and the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar is completely dissolved; keep stirring and cooking until reduced to about 1 cup total. Add the plum-and-onion mixture and the balsamic vinegar (add half the vinegar at first, mix, taste and add the rest if needed). Bring to a simmer and cook about 10 minutes.

Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove most of the solids. Return the sauce to a small saucepan. Keep warm. 

Season the pork chops with a little dried thyme and oregano. Grill or broil until done but still juicy. Drizzle the warm plum sauce over the pork.

We served this with asparagus, cooked in a packet on the grill with garlic, white pepper and kosher salt, and orzo with Parmesan cheese.