Peach-Glazed Barbecue Pork Chops with Grilled Peaches

This is yet another recipe from my Cooking Light Complete Cookbook. I don't eat a lot of pork, but I was intrigued by the recipe, so I decided to give it a try. The prep time is long, so I would recommend planning in advance. Despite how time consuming it was to make, it was very simple and straight forward. I must say that I am a fan of pork chops. While I steer clear of fatty pork products like bacon and have never cared for ham, the pork chop is quite tasty. Pork pairs really well with fruit, and I love peaches. It is barely peach season, but I was pleased to find a decent selection at the grocery store, even if the peaches were mostly on the small side. The sauce was really interesting. I'm not normally a fan of barbecue sauce, but this is much different than anything I've ever tasted. One thing I don't like about many sauces is how sweet they are, so I cut the sugar down in this recipe. The peaches are sweet enough to carry the sauce, which allows the other spices to shine through. Patrick said that the grilled peach halves really made this meal for him. The pork was a tad on the dry side, but the peaches were juicy and made up for the dryness of the meat. I never would have thought about grilling peaches, but they were fantastic. We put them on the upper rack in the grill because Patrick was worried that they couldn't handle the heat on the bottom, but I think next time they should go on the bottom. I forgot to spray the rack with cooking spray to prevent them from sticking, and while this wasn't detrimental to the finished product, I would recommend not skipping this step...oops. I cut the recipe in half, but you can view the original recipe on myrecipes.com. Overall, I was really impressed with this dish, and I would make it again.

Peach-Glazed Barbecue Pork Chops and Peaches

• 1 1/2 C chopped peeled peaches (about 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 C white wine
• 1 Tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbs white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbs molasses
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp ground red pepper
• 4 (4-ounce) center-cut pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick), trimmed
• 2 peaches, halved and pitted

Combine first chopped peaches, wine, and sugar in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes.

Place peach mixture in a food processor. Add salt, black pepper, vinegar, molasses,chili powder, paprika, and red pepper.

Process until smooth.

Place half of peach mixture in a large heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag; reserve other half for basting.

Add chops to bag.

Seal bag, mix around to coat the pork, and refrigerate 30 minutes to 4 hours.

Preheat grill.

Remove pork chops to a plate and discard bag. Place pork chops and peach halves on grill rack.

Baste pork and peach halves with the reserved peach mixture every 2 minutes during the first 6 minutes of cooking. Grill 10 minutes or until the pork is done and the peaches are tender, turning once.

Serve pork chops with peaches. Add extra sauce if you desire.