Gettin' my bourb-on.

Well, not exactly bourbon. But whiskey and enough brown sugar get close enough.

My mom tells me that my first word was "peach," or "toh-toh" in Chinese. Of course, my oldest sister's first word was "mama," my other sister's first word was "dada," and mine was "peach." The story goes that I was crying in the night, and my mom came into my room and found me standing up on the edge of the crib asking for peaches. From that day forward, peaches officially became my favorite fruit (appearing in other chapters of my life, including the time I dumped a bowl of canned peaches in juice on top of my head, and later in the form of a sweet sixteen birthday cake).

As my favorite fruit, nothing makes me sadder than a bad peach: dry and crunchy, under-ripe, sour, clinging to the pit for dear life (and coming apart in your hands as you try to extract the fruit). By the same token, few things make me happier than a perfect peach: beautiful, golden and red blush; silky, juicy slices; a warm round flavor punctuated by a slightly acidic sweetness, coming away effortlessly from the stone. Mmm. The last two seasons of peaches have been highly unfortunate, mostly of the dry and crunchy variety. So imagine my delight when I found not only perfect peaches in my work cafeteria (generally unusual) and a whole mound of wonderfully ripe and fragrant peaches at Harris Teeter yesterday. Of course, I had to put them to good use. Bourbon-peach pork chops seemed obvious, but I had no bourbon and was too hungry to procure any...turns out a little brown sugar with Johnnie Walker will do the trick. The velvety butter and tangy, alcoholic peaches compliment a salty, thick-cut pork chop perfectly.

Pardon my unsteady camera hand -- having never tried this at home, I had a bit of a situation to attend to.

~

Bourbon-Glazed Peaches over Pork Chops

2 * 6-8 oz. pork chops (~1" thick, bone-in if you can find them)
1 T olive oil
2 T butter 1 medium shallot, minced
4-6 springs of thyme
2 ripe peaches, sliced
1/2 c whiskey
1-2 T brown sugar
pinch of salt (for the peaches -- the pork will likely be salty enough due to common brining practices)
pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear pork chops until nicely browned and cooked almost completely through, 10-12 min.; season with pepper before you flip. Remove from the pan and cover with foil -- they will continue to cook just barely under the foil, and their juices will soak back into the meat.

Reduce heat to medium and add 1 T of butter to the pan, sautéing shallots and thyme for a couple minutes. Take pan off flames and add whiskey; tip ever so slightly so the fumes catch fire (BE CAREFUL!), and let the alcohol burn out. Add peaches, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt, and sauté until softened and flavorful. Finish peaches and sauce with remaining butter. Top pork chops with drunk peaches and serve.