Sweet and Savory Pork Chops

I’m kind on this kick lately.  I’m thinking a lot about how I love the combination of fruits and meats.  The mix of sweet and savory really fires me up.  it’s what got me thinking and helped me to come up with the latest challenge (in the last post).

I did this dish a while ago, and I enjoyed not only cooking it, but coming up with the ingredients and the process.  In the end, it was kind of a rethink of my berried chicken idea (inspired by Toni of dutchovenmadness).

I got a lot of raves from my family on this one.


Dutch Oven Sweet and Savory Pork Chops

12” dutch oven
12 coals underneath
12 coals on top

8” or 10” Dutch oven
10-12 coals underneath

• 6-8 Pork Chops (I used boneless)

• Salt
• Pepper
• Paprika
• chili powder (not as much)
• garlic powder (a little extra)

• 1-2 lbs bacon

• 4 medium to large potatoes

The Sauce

• 2 Peaches, sliced thin
• 2 handfuls Grapes, chopped (I used white grapes)
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup sugar
• nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Juice of ½ Lemon
• Lemon Zest

The first thing I did was to thaw the meat.  I actually had it in the fridge for several days, so that wasn’t a problem.  I took them out and patted them dry.  Then I mix up the spices.  You can use any spice rub that you like.  I just started with equal amounts of the salt, pepper, and the paprika, then added the chili powder and the garlic powder.

A note:  I don’t really like garlic salt.  I find that I can’t really count on the balance between the garlic and the salt, so if I want more of one, I end up with too much of the other.  Usually, that means that I want more garlic and have too much salt.  I’m jus’ sayin’...

I mixed up the spices in a zip-top baggie, shook it up, and added the meat.  I shook those up and then pulled them out and shook off the excess.  These, I let sit for a while in the fridge.

While my coals were heating up, I chopped up the potatoes.  I quartered them, and the sliced them kinda thin. These went into the bottom of the Dutch oven.

I pulled out the seasoned pork chops, and wrapped each one tightly in two strips of bacon.  Then, I laid that on top of the potatoes.  With all of the pork chops wrapped and in place, I took the Dutch oven out and got it on the coals.

Then, I turned my attention to the sauce.  I sliced up the peaches and chopped up the grapes and put those in the smaller dutch oven.  I added some water, and then the sugar and the seasonings.  That went out on the coals, too.  At first, I covered it with the lid, so it would heat up to a boil faster.  Then I removed the lid so it would start to simmer and reduce.

About half-way through, I realized that I had mismanaged my coals, and I was going to burn out.  I hurriedly lit up some more, but the coals were almost completely burned out before the new ones were ready.  Still, I managed to get some fresh coals on and keep it cooking in time.  It’s frustrating when I catch myself not paying attention!

As it was ending, I took some of the extra coals, and heated up another small dutch oven.  I threw in a can of corn and a can of green beans, to make it a complete meal.

The end result was absolutely delicious.  The potatoes were both soft and crisp, and seasoned slightly from the drippings of the bacon and pork chops.  The chops themselves were amazing.  I served them, still wrapped, with the fruit sauce on top.








Mark has discovered a love of Dutch Oven Cooking. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.