Pork and Pear Saute with Lemon-Vodka Sauce

All New Complete Cooking Light Cookbook, p 345

2t olive oil, divided
2 boneless center cut loin pork chops (about 3/4" thick)
1/2t salt, divided
1/2t black pepper, divided
2 peeled Anjou pears, cored and halved
1/4 vodka or dry white wine
2t grated lemon rind (omitted)
1T fresh lemon juice
1T chopped fresh chives (omitted)

1. Heat 1t olive oil in a 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle pork chops with 1/4t salt and 1/4t pepper. Add pork chops to pan, saute 3 minutes on each side or until pork is done. Remove from pan and keep warm.
2. Heat 1t oil in pan over medium heat. Place pear in pan, cut sides down. Saute 2 min on each side or until golden. Remove pear from pan and keep warm. Add vodka to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in 1/4t salt, 1/4t pepper, rind, juice, and chives, and cook 1 minute.

This was ok. The flavors were nice together, but I couldn't figure out how to properly cook my pears. Granted, they were a little less than ripe to start with, but after cooking (how DOES one saute a round object??), my pears were still on the hard side.

It was good, but nothing earth shattering.