Pork & Pears

Today I wanted to share one of our favorite family dinner recipes with you.  It's not one that we have all the time - in fact, it's probably been about a year since I last made it - but when my kids saw it on the menu this week they fell to their knees and praised heaven and earth.  {They can be just a tad dramatic sometimes.}

This recipe is so good that it is almost the only exception to my strict anti-fruit-and-meat policy.  You heard me.  I hate fruit and meat together.  The only things I can tolerate are citrus and chicken {generally delicious in all its forms} and now pork and pears. But not just any pork with any pears.  Just these particular pork and pears I'm gonna' tell you about.

I found this recipe on the "i heart blog" years ago.  Ordinarily I would pass up a recipe like that {fruit and meat . . . yeah, no}so fast.  So very fast.  But it really sounded like something my husband would enjoy so I made it for him.  What do you know?!  It was delightful.  I guess I don't know everything.

So, here's how you do it:

Pork & Pears Recipe

2-3 pork steaks {I used a pork roast this time and it worked fine}

1 C. orange juice

1 can pear halves in heavy syrup

1 packet Au Jus mix

Rice {prepare enough for your family - about six servings is what I do to go with this recipe}

Cut pork steaks against the grain into finger-sized slices.  Discard the excess fat as you go.  Place pork strips into a skillet with high sides.  I think an electric skillet works great for this. Brown the meat on low for 5-7 minutes on each side, for a total of 10-14 minutes.  While the meat is browning start cooking your rice and mix up the sauce as follows:  In a large measuring cup that can hold at least 2 cups, drain all juice from your pears.  Add enough orange juice to make 2 cups of liquid total.  Add the au jus packet and whisk until smooth.  When pork is done browning, pour your liquid into the pan and place pear halves on top of meat.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  When it is finished, place pears in a bowl to serve on the side.  Serve meat and sauce over the rice and love every last bite of it.

For really good step-by-step photos, click on over to the original post.  I'm not such a great photographer, but I made the recipe cute if you want to download it for your collection.

{just click the photo to enlarge then right click and save it to your computer}

I'll be linking this recipe up at: