Coffee–Molasses Marinated Pork Chops...

‘Pork chops and apple sauce…ain’t that swell’
Peter Brady: The Brady Bunch, Television series 1969–1974

Pork chops and applesauce certainly are ‘swell’ – they are a classic combination after all. The two go together like peanut butter and jam, bacon and eggs or strawberries and cream.

Last night I decided to put the applesauce to one side and try a different approach to pork chops. Over the past few months my eye had been drawn to several recipes for pork chops with a coffee-molasses marinade. There was a half empty jar of molasses kicking around so I thought, why not?

I was missing some of the ingredients so a few substitutions needed to be made. I don’t think this affected the final outcome of the dish – it was delicious! Peter Brady would approve. In fact he may have even called it… ‘swell’.

Here is the recipe I used from the Taste of Home website. We served these with boiled new potatoes and butter braised Savoy cabbage.

Coffee–Molasses Marinated Pork Chops (serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 cup strong brewed coffee

• 1/4 cup molasses

• 6 fresh thyme sprigs (I used lemon thyme from our garden)

• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar (I used tarragon vinegar)

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used mustard powder)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning (I used lemon myrtle and lots of freshly ground black pepper)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

• 4 bone-in pork loin chops (1 inch thick)

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients

Pour 1/2 cup marinade into a large re-sealable plastic bag; add the pork chops. Seal bag and turn to coat; refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining coffee mixture until ready to cook

NOTE: I used a large Pyrex oven dish and covered the pork chops in ALL the marinade as in Alton Brown’s recipe for coffee-molasses marinated pork chops from the Food Network website. When it came time to make the glaze I once again used ALL the marinade. I poured it through a fine sieve first and reduced it to about ¼ of a cup so it was much thicker in consistency than the Taste of Home recipe

For glaze, place remaining coffee mixture in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to about 1/2 cup

Drain and discard marinade covering the pork chops

Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack.

Grill chops, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 160°

NOTE: We used our Creuset grill pan to cook the chops and gave them a slightly longer cooking time of 6-7 mins

Spoon glaze over chops

Enjoy