Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – a delicious concoction of fruit, nuts and spices, a hit of dark chocolate and a little smoke from the woodfired oven. The chocolate gives a depth of flavour and richness rather than making it sweet – we use a bit now and then in other dishes to do the same thing.

Traditionally the sauce is served with turkey but we’re using it with pork chops, grilled in the woodfired oven to get nicely charred and stay succulent inside. Perfect as National Chocolate Day is coming up next week!

We cooked this week’s dish in our Morso Forno but it works well in all the other kinds of woodfired ovens too.

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – Ingredients

4 free range pork chops, about 200g each

1 medium red onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1tsp each ground black pepper, ground coriander, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground cumin, aniseed or fennel seeds, dried oregano, chipotle flakes

1tbsp ancho chillies, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes

4 large ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

30g flaked almonds

1 heaped tbsp crunchy peanut butter

50g raisins

1 and a half tbsp dark cocoa powder

300ml water

Salt and pepper

1tsp sugar

2tbsp sunflower oil

To garnish, chopped red pepper (or chile if you like a bit more heat!), chopped fresh coriander, lime wedges, hot banana pickled chillies

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – Equipment

Tuscan Grill

Frying pan

Tongs

Oven at 2-3 Mississippi

Door Off

Probe thermometer

Gauntlets

Blender

Kindling to keep fire going

 

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – Method

1. Heat the frying pan in the oven and when it’s hot add half the oil.
2. Heat the oil and then add the chopped onions and cook for 2-3 minutes until starting to soften, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the spices and the drained ancho chillies and cook them for another minute.
4. Add the tomatoes, garlic, almonds, peanut butter, raisins, cocoa powder and water and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Put the pan back in the oven and cook the sauce for 10-12 minutes until the veggies are all cooked and the sauce has reduced. Cool for 5 minutes and whizz until smooth with a bit of texture with a hand blender.
6. Adjust the seasoning of the sauce as necessary with a little more salt and pepper and a bit of sugar if the chilli is too fiery. (This will balance out all the flavours – not make the sauce sweet, a great trip we learnt when traveling in south east Asia.)
7. Bring the embers over the base of the oven and put the Tuscan Grill over the top to heat through thoroughly.
8. Brush the chops with the rest of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Put them on the hot Tuscan grill and leave in place to grill for 2-3 minutes each side depending on the thickness.
9. When the internal temperature reaches 72C, take the chops off the grill and let them rest in a warm place for 5 minutes.

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – Serving Up

1. Put the grilled pork chops on a large serving platter.
2. Pour over the hot Mole sauce.
3. Sprinkle over the chopped pepper and fresh coriander.
4. Serve with the lime wedges on the side with the banana wax chillies.

Woodfired Pork Chops with Mole Poblano Sauce – Alternatives

Use the mole poblano sauce with grilled chicken or turkey. Also great with vegetable kebabs or roast pumpkin wedges or saute potatoes for a vegetarian/vegan option.

Thanks from us!

We hope you like this week’s recipe – do let us know how you get on. If you are liking them, we’d love it of you can help us grow our youtube channel by subscribing.

Thanks in advance and see you for more Woodfired Weekly next week.

David and Holly

 

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