Wednesday, April 8, 2009

the sweet smell of chipotle peppers

Ah the food network. I heart the food network. I heart it so much that I actually recreated a bbq pork recipe... and ate pork for the first time in almost 10 years. I got a 9 out of 10 for my efforts ;0)

The recipe is borrowed from Chuck's Day Off - Chuck's BBQ'd ribs... really really tasty. They aren't difficult, just set aside some time - it took me almost 2 hours from start to finish. But the actual work involved was maybe 30 minutes...

I couldn't find fresh racks of baby back pork ribs, so I replaced them with pork chops instead. The slow cooking made the chops really tender. The sauce is super flavourful - grab some bread to soak up the leftovers. I had about 2 cups of extra sauce left over - I'm thinking it'll add a nice punch to some rice and veggies... :0)


Lynne's BBQ'd slow roasted pork chops
ingredients:
3 x stalks of celery, roughly chopped
4 x onions, roughly chopped (cooking onions, so they aren't too large)
5 x carrots, roughly chopped
2 x heads of garlic, top chopped off, skins left on
3 x apples, quartered (leave the skin on and don't worry about the seeds)
2 x pork chops (bone in)
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper
flour for dredging the pork chops
bottle of red wine
1/2 c. water (or just enough to cover)
2 tbsp. corn starch

The Sauce
ingredients:
1 c. Worchestershire sauce
1 c. ketchup
1 c. soy sauce
1 c. cider vinegar
1 c. pure maple syrup
1 tin chipotle peppers, don't drain
handful of fresh rosemary, removed from the stems
handful of fresh thyme, removed from the stems

Preheat your oven to 300F. Pull out a saucepan that can also be used in the oven - my large pot's handles were plastic - so i just covered them in tinfoil before putting it in the oven.

Prep before you start cooking - so roughly chop up all your veggies and the apples. Set aside.

Take your pork chops, season with the salt and pepper. Now, coat each side of the chops with flour - have the flour on a large plate to make it easier to dredge them.

With your pot heating over high heat, add the oil. Allow the oil to get really hot. Place the chops into the pot and cook on each side about 3-4 minutes (sear them).

Remove the chops from heat and set-aside. If there is excess oil, discard it, but make sure that all the meaty parts are left in the pot (instant flavour). Add the veggies and apples to the pot. Let them caramelize - about 10 minutes (don't toss them around too much).

While the veggies are caramelizing, dump all the sauce ingredients into a large bowl (including the herbs). Combine well.

Return the chops to the pot, add the sauce to the pot and dump the entire bottle of red wine to the mix. Add some water - you want the chops to just barely be covered. Bring everything to a boil.

Cover the pot with tinfoil and place in the preheated oven. I roasted these for about 75 minutes... next time I'll take them out after 60 minutes... but they were still super tender and not dry.

Remove the chops from the pot. Set aside - keep covered with the tinfoil that you used to cover the pot for roasting.

Strain the solids out of the liquid. Remember - DON'T drain the liquid over your drain... strain over a large bowl.

Return the strained liquid to the large pot and return to heat. You want to bring the sauce up to a boil and then simmer to reduce in half (about 15 minutes). Once it's reduced - take about 1/2 c. and mix that with the corn starch. Mix well. By tempering the corn starch before adding it to the sauce you prevent it from clumping up and ruining the silky smooth consistency you're aiming for.

Add the corn starch mix back to the pot, whisking everything together. Toss the chops back into the sauce - ensuring that they're warm when you serve them.

I really hope that you give this recipe a try - if you like some heat in your cooking and want your home to smell awesome - this is the bbq recipe for you!

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