This particular recipe features shallots sauteed in balsamic vinegar - it's a pungent combination, and delicious with the pork. The recipe is adapted from this fantastic cookbook my parents got me last Christmas, that I'm practically reading like a novel - Williams Sonoma's "San Francisco: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World". It gives a great overview of food in the Bay Area, then recipes! Not 100% sure what makes this a Bay Area recipe, but hey! It's delicious, so I'll buy it.
BRINE: from Fred Thompson's "Grill Master: The Ultimate Arsenal of Back-to-Basics Recipes for the Grill":
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp thyme
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
6 cups water
In a large bowl, combine water, vinegar, sugar, thyme, pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, and stir until sugar and salt dissolve. Submerge pork chops in brine, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for as long as possible.
CHOPS:
2-4 center cut pork loin chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup minced shallot
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp minced fresh sage
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Remove the chops from brine and pat dry.
Place a large frying pan (big enough to hold all the chops in a single layer) over medium-high heat until hot, then add olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the chops and reduce heat to medium. Cook until the bottoms are browned, about 10 minutes. Flip and cook until the chops are no longer pink at the bone, about 10 more minutes. Put the chops on a heatproof platter, and keep in the oven to warm.
Pour off any pan fat and return to medium-low heat. Add 1 tbsp of the butter. Once the butter melts, add the shallot and cook, stirring until it has softened. Add the vinegar and bring to a boil; boil until it has reduced by about half. Add chicken stock and sage, raise the heat to high, boil, scrape up any browned bits in the pan, and reduce until it's about a 1/3 cup of liquid. Remove from the heat and add the rest of the butter; swirl it in, but don't stir it.
Return the pan to low heat, add the chops back to the pan, and cook for a couple minutes, turning the chops in the sauce. Spoon the extra sauce over the chops to serve. (Good with rice and sauteed greens.)
