When I look back I can now see that this probably wasn’t a good idea if my goal was trying to get my son to eat a pork chop. But when I came up with the idea for maple ancho pork chops I couldn’t resist. We’re talking about maple syrup infused with ancho chile peppers and garlic and then caramelized onto some thick juicy pork chops. I was definitely in heaven but my son wasn’t as impressed.

As a breakfast food, my son loves pancakes and maple syrup…but what I wasn’t counting on was that pancakes would be the only food that he would be willing to eat maple syrup with. It didn’t help that it no longer looked like maple syrup when I got through with it. I know he missed out this time but I’ll definitely be making these again sometime soon. He’ll give in eventually! Right?

Tell me what you think!

Ingredients

4 thick cut pork chops

3 dried whole ancho chile peppers

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup pure Grade A maple syrup

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Slice stems off of the dried ancho chile peppers and remove seeds. Boil dried chile peppers for 20 minutes over high heat. Meanwhile, add maple syrup, olive oil, garlic, and salt to a blender or food processor. After 20 minutes remove reconstituted chile peppers from saucepan and add to blender or food processor. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds ensuring a smooth sauce. Add sauce back to a saucepan and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Mop sauce over pork chops and grill over medium heat while turning pork chops over 2-3 times during cooking, each time mopping with additional sauce. Pork chops are done when they have reached 135 degrees and sauce has caramelized. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.