Grilled Pork Chops with Poblano Cream Sauce

From: https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-grilled-pork-chops-s-story.html

I had a couple thawed bone-in pork chops and 2 poblanos. Having come across a couple recipes that called for tomatillos (white chicken chili, creamy enchiladas, etc.) I put them on the grocery list. When I got them, I decided poblanos should go well with them, so I bought a couple. Except, I ended up using the tomatillos in the Chicken with Green Sauce, instead. Long story short, I searched for recipes with pork chops and poblanos and this is the one I found that sounded promising.

Ingredients

PORK CHOPS

• 2 loin pork chops, about 1/2-inch-thick
• Oregano
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

POBLANO CREAM SAUCE

• 1 poblano chiles
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 medium chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Process

If you’re comparing the ingredients to the original recipe, you can see I made some modifications up front. Most notably, I just did the pork chops like I know how, that turns out awesome every time, with the minor exception that I used the oregano when I’d usually just stick with S&P (and maybe sometimes thyme):

Pork Chops

1. Season chops with salt, pepper, and oregano; let sit for 40+ minutes in refrigerator
2. Prep grill for 2-zone cooking, 225° – 250° F
3. Place chops on cool side of grill until the read 135° F with an instant-read thermometer
4. Remove grill lid, let heat build up for a couple minutes until intensely hot for a good sear
5. Sear chops for a minute or two on each side on the hot side of the grill. Turn as often as desired until a nice brown, crispy surface is formed.
6. Rest chops for 5+ minutes

Poblano Cream Sauce

1. Roast poblano chiles on rack over gas burner. Put roasted peppers in paper bag and fold end over to seal. Let stand to allow peppers to sweat, about 15 minutes. Peel peppers (I forgot to do this), then cut each in half and remove stems and seeds. Chop peppers coarsely and set aside.
2. Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and saute until onion just begins to brown, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in broth (I forgot to add bouillon, so this was just water) and whipping cream. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until sauce begins to thicken slightly, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in chopped chiles and simmer 1 minute. Pour into blender and puree. Return sauce to skillet, add salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.

Impressions

This was really good. The family and I loved it. No surprise with the pork chops – they’re always a hit – but they really liked the sauce, too. My daughter rightly thought it tasted a lot like a generic cream soup. In accordance with the Food Lab, I’ve made a couple “cream of soups” before. This recipe isn’t much different from the generic process Kenji outlines in the book and the sauce left after was eaten just straight like a soup. I think I’ll actually make a poblano soup next time I get around to picking up some poblanos. I think I’ll throw in a serrano pepper or two with it, just to spice it up. I’ve had a tendency lately to over-spice my dinners, so, even though I charred and sweated a serrano, I didn’t add it to the sauce.

One mistake I made was to forget to peel the peppers. It didn’t make a big difference, but the skin was a little bit of a distraction when the sauce was eaten by itself as a soup.

Update

I made the sauce into a soup. It was alright, but satisfied my urge to see if it was awesome (not so much). I think it was a little too smooth. I used the food processor for the sauce and immersion blender for the soup. I also didn’t have any serranos, but I don’t think that’s what made or broke it.

Maybe it’s best as a salsa…