Fruit ‘N Filbert Pork Chops is easily my favorite recipe from A Treasury of Prize Winning Filbert Recipes, transforming a usually bland and dry pork loin into a delicious weeknight meal.  The fruit is arguably central to the flavor profile, but the recipe still showcases the toasty bitterness of roasted hazelnuts.   It’s also deliciously old school, centered around a giant hunk of protein but with a sticky sweet sensibility that’s long since gone out of vogue.  The ingredient list is a love letter to the Pacific Northwest, and perfectly encapsulates both the time and place that A Treasury of Prize Winning Filbert Recipes comes from.

Preparation is straightforward but benefits from advance planning.  Toast the filberts several days ahead of time and store in an airtight container. This will allow you to have Fruit ‘N Filbert Pork Chops on the table in about an hour.   Chop the onions and apples while you’re searing the pork loin to optimize things further.  The original recipe calls for canned figs, which I haven’t seen on store shelves in decades.  In the recipe below I’ve substituted fig preserves, which are available at most American grocery stores:   a half cup of dried figs reconstituted in a quarter cup of boiling water would work as well.   Canned plums might work in a pinch.

My family is my guinea pig for vintage recipes, which are hit or miss.  Fruit ‘N Filbert Pork Chops were an unqualified smash hit.  Every family member went back for seconds, both pork and fruit.  They even ate the leftover fruit and rice on its own the next day.  And I can’t say that I blame them:   the fruit ‘sauce’ is a happy balance of sweet and savory – perhaps a little bit too sweet to eat on its own, but perfect cut with rice or protein.  The filberts in the sauce lose a little bit of their crunch but lend some richness and fat to complement the lean protein.

And, unlike most recipes I encounter from the 1970s, the pork is neither jerky nor shoe leather.   After an hour of cooking the center of the thickest pork loin was perfect.  Just above the USDA-recommended 145º F, about as juicy and tender as pork loin is ever going to get.

There’s an awful lot going on in this dish, so keep the sides simple.   Rice, barely, or couscous will soak up the watery sauce.  I served a simple coconut rice – basmati steamed with coconut milk and broth.  It was bland on its own but seemed to complement the fruit sauce perfectly.   For the obligatory green veggie I served steamed sweet peas, and would also recommend fresh green beans or lightly steamed broccoli.   Fresh tomatoes might also be an option in late summer, but avoid bitter greens or carrots.

A Treasury of Prize Winning Filbert Recipes is generally available, used, on Amazon or elsewhere.  Enjoy!