The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Did you cringe when you read that? Or did it pique your interest? For me, I thought it sounded interesting. I've seen recipes with Coke and there are many recipes that have a sweet sauce on meat. So Sunday is a good day to try something different. It takes three cans of Root Beer, which is a little over three dollars bought for the three. Somehow, I need to erase my memory of prices never to be seen again.

Note on recipe-These are great for outdoor grilling, simple and tasty.

INGREDIENTS:

4 (1-inch thick) pork chops 2 Tbsp brown sugar

3 (12 fluid oz) cans root beer ½ tsp chipotle -favored hot sauce

Salt and pepper to taste 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 c. beef stock Pinch of salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place the pork chops in a dish, pour two cans of the root beer over the chops. Place in a refrigerator to marinate at least two hours. Remove the pork chops from the root beer, season with salt and pepper.

Combine the remaining can of root beer, the beef stock, brown sugar, hot sauce, and Worcestershire sauce in a saucepan over medium heat, simmer the mixture until it reduces to about ¾ cup. Set aside.

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil the grate.

Grill the pork chops on the preheated grill until they are no longer pink in the center, about eight minutes per side. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read 145 degrees F. Brush the chops generously with the reduction sauce and continue cooking for about two minutes more per side. Remove from grill and brush with any remaining sauce. Season with salt to taste before serving.

MY NOTES:

First, and I am laughing, I put Joe in charge of watching the sauce while I pan fried the pork chops and made the recipe for sweet potatoes with blue cheese and pecans. Simple job, right? But it appears to be stressful, as for the next half hour, all I heard was it would take an hour to boil down, and he was thinking of ways to substitute – i.e., root beer extract in a sweet sauce, etc. In his defense, it did look like a lot of liquid but on a hot summer day, while waiting, one can relax with their favorite beverage.

I didn't have the chipotle sauce, so substituted Tabasco sauce. When it finally boiled down, maybe about a half hour or so, the sauce was thick and sticky but very good. You could taste the root beer, and it had a bit of a bite with the hot sauce. I coated both sides of the pork chop, and I put a little extra on. Interesting, because it gave the pork chops a great flavor, but not very sweet, as some sauces are. We didn't think it made the meat taste like root beer at all.

Caution: I wouldn't do the sauce too far ahead because it will be thick and sticky.

ENJOY: and if you are like me, take a swig of root beer before it goes into the sauce or buy a six pack and make root beer floats