Most years, by the last week of February winter has grown a bit long in the tooth.
For those of who live in the northern climes, winter is a season to be appreciated for what it offers, though the snow, ice and cold of the season lose their luster about now.
Particularly when you’re dreaming about blue-winged olives, grilling big hunks of meat on the grill, long river floats and bikinis.
Those of us who live and die by the grill can get really cranky about now; my crew gets to whining about missing our secret-family-recipe grilled chicken, juicy grilled rib-eyes and brined pork chops grilled to perfection.
We stumbled across this recipe a few years ago in Bozeman; I was meeting John Juracek at the library in town to chat about a project and found this recipe in the Wall Street Journal of all places.
I’m a sucker for a home-made red chili sauce – especially if you’re willing to go to the extra effort to roast the tomatoes – and this happens to be a very, very good one. Bone-in chops add a bit of a cave-man flair to the meal as well as that sweet meat right on the bone.
Within a few months I’d lost my notes copied that day; the next winter we tried to recreate it from memory and came up with this version. If it’s still winter in your neighborhood try these It’s Too Damned Cold to Grill Red Chili Pork Chops on for size.
Red Chili Sauce
1 ounce guajillo chilies, stems and seeds removed
2 ounces New Mexico red chilies, stems and seeds removed
4 roma tomatoes, halved and most of the seeds removed
Medium white onion, quartered
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1 tsp. salt
2 and 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 Tbsp. olive oilPork Chops
4 bone-in pork chops, roughly an inch thick
Kosher salt
8 ounces white cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 small sweet onion, chopped medium
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Red Chili Sauce. Place the chilies, onion and garlic in a large sauce pan, add water to just cover and then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the chilies are soft.
Broil the tomatoes until the skins are beginning to blacken and the flesh is nice and soft.
Drain off the water and transfer the vegetables to your trusty blender or food processor. Add the tomatoes, oregano, salt and broth; puree until smooth.
Using the a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and then ‘fry’ the sauce for a couple of minutes; it will thicken slightly and smell like red chili sauce should. Set aside and wipe out the skillet.
Brown the chops. Preheat the oven to 350. After lightly salting both sides of the chops, brown both sides in the skillet over medium-high heat in the olive oil. You’re after a nice golden brown sear here, but you’re not cooking the chops fully. No more than three minutes per side; remove to a baking dish when browned.
Oven Time. Pour the sauce over the chops in the baking dish (we often don’t use all the prepared sauce) and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Sprinkle the chopped onion evenly over the chops followed by the grated cheese. Return to the oven for another 5 or 6 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Serve ’em up. Plate immediately spooning sauce onto the plate and placing the chop right on top; amazing with a hot, spicy cabbage side.
Enjoy.
