Bourbon Ancho Chile Pork Chops

I started my blog just over two years ago, and was solely focused on cupcake recipes and sweet treats. Over time, my blog has evolved to include cake decor and fondant tutorials, crafts, and even quite a few savory dishes! My husband and I love to cook together and have recently started experimenting more with recipes. 

If you read my blog much, you know I love Food Network. I've tried out a ton of Pioneer Woman recipes (seriously...it's a lot)! Recently, though, we've been on a Bobby Flay kick. A couple months ago, I shared two Bobby Flay burger recipes, and his Ancho Chile fries. After enjoying those recipes, we decided to tackle something tougher. When we were on our honeymoon, we went to his awesome restaurant Mesa Grill in NYC. The bread, the appetizers, and dessert - everything was amazing! My favorite part of the meal, though, had to be my entree - Bourbon-Ancho pork tenderloin. 

We decided to try our hand at his recipe for the pork dish. To switch things up, though, we made pork chops instead of pork tenderloin. The crust worked well on them, and the Bourbon-Ancho sauce was perfect! We were disappointed at first, because it didn't seem to thicken up well. But the taste was spot on, and worked perfectly with the pork.

Bourbon-Ancho Pork Chop ingredients:

• Spice crust:
• 3 tbs ancho chile powder
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp allspice (if you don't have all spice, use equal parts cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves)
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• Kosher salt
• 2 tbs canola oil
• 2 lbs pork chop
• Bourbon-Ancho sauce
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 cup frozen thawed apple juice concentrate
• 1 1/2 ancho chiles (or 1 tbs ancho chile powder)
• 1 cup bourbon

Bourbon-Ancho Pork Chop instructions:

• Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat
• Pour in Bourbon and bring to a boil
• Heat until reduced to a few tablespoons (~5 mins)
• Add ancho chile powder, chicken stock, apple juice concentrate, black pepper, and brown sugar

• Cook until reduced by half, about 15-20 mins

• Heat tbsp canola oil in pan over medium high
• Mix together spice crust for the pork chops

• Cover both sides of the pork chop with the spice rub

• Heat the pork chops to an internal temperature of at least 145F (for medium rare), we cooked them to 160F. Cook them on each side for a few mins and then flip, continuing cooking and flipping until finished.