CHERRY GLAZED PORK CHOPS

CHERRY GLAZED PORK CHOPS
2 pounds boneless pork chops
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons oil
12 ounce can Hansen's diet black cherry soda *
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 large onion, sliced thin, 5 ounces
Xanthan gum, optional, about 1/2 teaspoon

Season the pork chops with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Brown well on both sides in hot oil in a very large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. You may need to brown them in two batches. Put all of the chops back in the skillet and scatter the onions over the top. Combine the soda, soy sauce and Splenda; pour over the pork chops. Bring to a simmer; cover and simmer 45 minutes or until the sauce in the pan has reduced and the meat is done. You may need to uncover the pan during the last 5-10 minutes. If you'd like to thicken your sauce, remove the pork chops to a serving plate then lightly sprinkle a little xanthan gum over the surface of the sauce in the pan. Bring to a simmer, whisk in well and cook until thickened. Serve the sauce over chops.

Makes 6 servings
Freezing not recommended

* I haven't tried it, but diet orange soda would probably also be good if you can't get black cherry. Just make sure that your soda is sweetened with Splenda and not aspartame which can't take the heat of cooking.

Per Serving: 329 Calories; 26g Fat; 19g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

My inspiration for this was the Delicious Apple Glazed Pork Chops recipe. I had some Hansen's black cherry soda on hand and the flavor reminded me a little bit of apple juice. I thought I could use that instead of cider vinegar. Although I ended up with very nice tender pork chops, the soda really didn't have enough flavor impact. I do think that orange soda might still be worth a try. The sauce was good, but tasted more like gravy than anything else. However, I really like this method of making pork chops because they always come out tender and juicy. So, I will try to come up with other sauce and seasoning variations until I hit upon one that's really good. Most of the carbs in this dish are from the onions so you could leave them out and only count 1 net carb per serving. I really think they add to the flavor though.

UPDATE: I did try using some Diet Rite Tangerine soda, but it didn't give the chops any orange flavor at all so I won't bother making them that way again.

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