Whiskey Glazed Smoked Pork Chops

Jun 22nd 2019

The sweet spot in cooking pork  is juicy but not pink, and that can be a challenge.

Ingredients

• 4-6 smoked bone in pork chops
• 1 tsp dried mustard powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 TBS brown sugar
• 1 TBS whiskey
• 1 TBS vegetable oil
• 2 TBS water
• pomegranate seeds (optional)

Instructions

1. Dry the pork chops with a paper towel. Then season them with the cayenne and mustard powder. Stir together the whiskey, brown sugar and water and set to the side.
2. Heat the vegetable oil until hot then brown the pork chops in the oil at medium high heat. When nicely browned, be careful not to burn them, otherwise the burnt flavor will be present in the glaze. Once the chops are browned, remove them from the heat. 

1. Turn down the heat and add the wet mixture you put to the side earlier. Stir the mixture with a wooden spoon to release the brown (not burnt) bits attached to the pan. Continue to heat until the mixture is reduced to a glaze, this should take a short time, around a minute or two.
2. Return the browned chops to the pan and cook on both sides, heating and covering the chops with the glaze.

1. Remove from heat and plate. Top with pomegranate seeds if desired.

Smoked pork chops' smoky flavor ads a new flavor dimension to the pork. Smoking the chops kills all bacteria, but it still requires heating and to ensure food safety and best flavor should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. This recipe adds some sweet flavor through a whiskey glaze that mixes nicely with the smoky pork. By covering the cooking pork with the heat very low, the flavor of the glaze becomes stronger and the pork remains moist.