WOO - Pork Chops EN Fuego!!

...So in my high school days, I worked in the kitchen at a fabulous family-owned mexican restaurant in my little home town (before it turned into a horrifying sprawling suburb).. really great Tex Mex has always been a favorite for my whole family, and since I am married to a transplanted Texan, I find plenty of reasons to whip up something south-of-the-boarder inspired pretty regularly..

I recently decided that I wanted to start making my own sauces, and bringing some of what I remember from my restaurant days back into my kitchen... So yesterday I decided to make enchilada sauce to serve over porkchops and rice... I found a recipe that seemed similar to what I remember making at the restaurant, and figured I would tweak it as needed when I was making it...
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The recipe:

1 1/2 Tbls olive oil
1/4 cup flour

combine over heat to form a pale roux and then add:

1 small can chilies in adobo sauce, minced plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder...

Heat to a boil, drop to a simmer and allow roux to thicken sauce....


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Sounds devine, right? So I whipped it up and poured it over two porkchops that I cooked in the slow cooker with some chicken stock and some adobo sauce from the can of chilies - and served it with some store bought spanish rice.

HOLY 5 ALARM PORK CHOP, BATMAN!!! That sauce was hotter than hellfire!! Don't get me wrong, it actually had amazing depth of flavor - but GD it stung like crazy! The Hub was loving it, but eating rice like crazy, and glistening like we were sitting on a porch in Houston in July!!

It made a good amount of sauce, so I froze the rest and when I thaw it I think I will add a bit more stock, and some cumin to up the smokey flavor and thin out the heat just a bit... this stuff was not for the faint of heart - but it was a GREAT starting point.

Mui Caliente!!



PS - We sent the evites for our holiday open house today, so I look forward to posting about menu ideas and decisions soon.. stay tuned!