Ancho Chili Pork Chops with Bourbon Caramelized Apples
Ancho chili is one of those ingredients that does a lot of work quietly. It brings a mild, smoky warmth, the kind of backbone you taste in a good bowl of chili, without any harsh heat. Rubbed onto thick bone-in pork chops and finished over a skillet of bourbon caramelized apples, it turns an everyday cut into a stellar fall dinner.
The whole dish lives or dies on one thing: do not overcook the pork. Buy your chops thick and bone-in, sear them hard and fast over open flame, then finish them gently on a bed of apples until they reach 140°F/60°C. Pull them right there, let carryover bring them up to a juicy 145°F, and rest before slicing.
That 140°F pull is where a good thermometer earns its keep. We lean on a Meater Plus to monitor the chops hands-free while they finish in the skillet, so we are pulling on temperature instead of guessing.
The apples are the other half of the plate. Shallots and garlic go soft in butter, then sliced Gala apples, thyme, salt, and pepper cook down until they start to brown. A good splash of bourbon, Jim Beam does the job nicely, deglazes the pan and ties the smoky rub to the sweet fruit.
Thick and bone-in is the whole game. A thin chop blows past 140°F before it can pick up any sear or smoke. Go at least an inch and a half, pull on temp, and let it rest. Carryover does the rest.
Hawk’s Tip
Ancho Chili Pork Chops with Bourbon Caramelized Apples
Course: MainCuisine: BBQ, AmericanDifficulty: Intermediate4
servings20
minutes30
minutesIngredients
- For the Pork Chops
4 thick-cut bone-in pork chops, at least 1 1/2 inches thick
2 Tbsp dry rub (recipe below)
3 Tbsp butter
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Gala apples, cored and thinly sliced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup bourbon (Jim Beam works well)
- For the Dry Rub
1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt
1 1/4 Tbsp ancho chili powder
2 tsp ground black pepper
3 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
Directions
- Fire up. Set your grill for direct cooking and bring it to around 550°F/288°C.
- Rub and sear. Mix the dry rub ingredients in a bowl. Roll the pork chops in the rub until well coated. Sear all sides over direct flame, about 30 seconds per side, then remove and set aside.
- Build the apples. Set a large cast iron skillet on the grill and preheat 5 to 7 minutes until hot enough to saute. Melt the butter, then cook the shallots and garlic until soft. Add the apples, thyme, salt, and pepper and saute until the apples brown and soften.
- Deglaze. Pull the skillet off the heat and deglaze with the bourbon, scraping up everything stuck to the bottom of the pan.
- Finish gently. Nestle the chops into the bed of apples, close the lid, and cook until they reach 140°F/60°C internal. Pull the skillet and rest the chops 10 minutes.
- Serve. Slice the chops and serve over the bourbon caramelized apples.
One more note, this one from SueAnn: this plate wants a Syrah. The smoky ancho and the sweet bourbon apples both lean into the dark fruit and black pepper of a good bottle, and a Rhone-style blend sings here too. We are partial to The Illusionist from Sleight of Hand Cellars. If a recipe on this site carries a wine note, it came from her.
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