Culinary Disasters

This dish originally started as a fig chipotle stuffed pork chop and I was excited.  Stressful day at work and I could not wait to get home and slit open a pork chop, stuff it full of spicy sweet goodness, and grill it.  Got home opened up the package of pork chops and low and behold to my suprise they were not the 1.5 inch chops I had been dreaming about all day long and right then and there I knew exactly what I did.  I grabbed the wrong package out of the freezer to defrost (insert best Homer Simpson doh here).  So it is 7 p.m. I am starving earliest I could get a pizza here is 50 minutes (thank you joyous midwestern Winter weather) so time to call an audible the stuffing is now turning into a sauce.  So tada I present you with the grilled pork chop with a fig chipotle sauce and it was paired with the root vegetable mash. 

For this dish you are going to need:

• 4 pork chops
• 1 onion medium dice
• 3 cloves of garlic medium dice
• 6 dried figs diced
• 1 chipotle in adobo diced
• leaves from 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 tb of unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and pepper

Step one is set on the pork chops on the counter so they can come up to room temperature while you make the sauce. 

In a sauce pan over medium heat melt the butter.  Add in the onions and cook till softened (about 5 minutes) with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add in the chipolte pepper and watch as the onion mixture magically turns orange (ok not really magical but still kind of cool or else I was really that stressed out that I was excited by the littlest of things).  Stir for about a minute.

Add in the dried figs and stir around for a minute.

Add in the wine and let it reduce by 1/2 (about 5 minutes)

Add in the stock, bay leaf, and thyme leaves bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer.  Let this cook for about 30 minutes.

Once it has all been cooked transfer it to a blender or break out your immersion blender and take out the stress of your day on the sauce.  If you are using a regular blender please note hot liquid + blender = better hold on tight to that lid or else boom the liquid is going everywhere in your kitchen.  Pulse till combined.

Set aside and for the pork chops I liked to use my grill and just a simple salt and pepper on the chops.  Something about an icy night standing over the Weber in the garage shivering but working a grill makes me believe it is summer cookout time.  I cooked the pork chops over high heat for 5 minutes a side. 

Serve with either the sauce plopped on top of the pork chop or placed gently on the side of the pork chop.

Tags: pork, All //