Raspberry Chops

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A few months ago Penzey's Spices came out with a coupon for a free jar of Raspberry Enlightenment.

 Well you know me, I'm all about the free stuff.  So I headed over there and snatched that bad boy up.

The thing was, I had no idea what to use it for.

After much searching I decided to make these Raspberry Enlightenment Chops from Diet for Foodies.

Ok. OK. I didn't actually make these chops.  I had this recipe on the menu back when Blockette was sick with the croup, only I didn't know it yet.

Before taking her to the doctor, I set out all the ingredients for the marinade, and asked Mrblocko to mix it all together so the chops could have enough time to marinate.

When dinner time rolled around, I also had the nerve to ask Mrblocko to bake them while I made mashed potatoes.  I was sick as well, and multi-tasking at dinner was not in the cards if we wanted to eat sometime this century.

I believe Mrblocko browned the chops in the pan, then finished them off in the oven.  He poured the marinade over the chops while they baked in the oven.

This made the tastiest spicy sweet gravy.

Of course I didn't realize this until AFTER dinner when I was packaging up the leftovers.

DOH!

At least we got to enjoy the gravy on our leftovers!

My gravy separator was too large to work properly for the small amount of gravy in this recipe.  Once the gravy had cooled and congealed a bit, I just skimmed off the solidified fat at the top.  This isn't necessary, but I thought the gravy was too thin otherwise.

If you're not fortunate enough to have some Raspberry Enlightenment in your pantry, have no fear,  just substitute it with some seedless raspberry jam!

Raspberry Spice Marinade from Diet for Foodies
1/2 c wine or raspberry vinegar (I used pomegranate vinegar)
1/2 c oil (I used olive oil)
2 T soy sauce
5 T raspberry enlightenment (or jam)
5 T brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 tsp chipotle pepper ( I used cayenne)
1/2 t dried ginger
1/2 t salt
1 clove garlic, or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t ground pepper
1/2 t dry ground mustard

Mix all of the ingredients together in a ziplock bag.  Put in your meat.  (I used 4 thick boneless pork chops.) Marinade in the fridge for at least 4 hours, and as long as over night (or all day). Grill or bake as needed for the thickness of your chops. (USDA guidelines, as of this post, say cuts of pork should be cooked to a minimum internal temp of 145F, with a stand time of 3 minutes before cutting. )