Saturday, January 28, 2012

Baked Pork Chops with Onions, Apples, Rum, and Archibald's Sauce

I put this together last night and it came out nearly perfectly. I buy Archibald's sauce at Archibald's Barbecue in Northport, Alabama across the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa. They do not market their sauce except over the counter. I have a copy cat recipe that I am not ready to divulge so I recommend a vinegar/tomato sauce of your choosing. Let me know how it turns out.

Baked Pork Chops with Onions, Apples, Rum, and Archibald's Barbecue Sauce

Ingredients:

2 small onions, peeled and sliced
2 apples, sliced
4 loin chops, bone-in
3 T., dice fresh rosemary
3 T., oil
1-2 shots of dark rum
1 1/2 cups of Archibald's barbecue sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Rub oil on each chop and liberally salt and pepper each one on both sides. You may add Cajun seasoning depending upon your tastes.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium to medium high flame for 4-5 minutes. Add oil and swirl skillet to distribute the oil. Add the chops. If you do not hear a sizzle each time you add a chop, raise the temperature for the burner. You may have to do more than one batch depending on the size of the skillet.

After several minutes, lift the edge of one chop. If a nice golden brown crust has formed, you are ready to turn the chops over and go for the same crust.

When a golden crust has been obtained on both sides, place aside on a plate.

Add your sliced onions to the skillet being sure to scrape up the brown bits left over in the pan to blend with the onions. Cook until they just begin to soften. Add apples and diced rosemary and toss with onions, again scraping as you go. Cook for a few minutes until all is well cooked and fragrant. Remove from heat and add a jigger or two of dark rum and a pad of butter. Stir. Add about 1 ½ cups of Archibald's barbecue sauce or a tomato-y/mustard/vinegar sauce to substitute. Avoid sauce that is sticky, gooey and too sweet. Stir once

Spray a shallow rectangular casserole dish with cooking spray. Place chops in the casserole and cover with items from skillet. Place in oven and bake about 20-30 minutes until it is bubbly, fragrant and ready. Remove.

Note: You may just want to spoon the apples and onions over the chops and then place the skillet, covered, in the oven. Works just as well and less to wash later. 

Serve immediately with just about anything. I like rice or grits.



2 comments:

Mark said...

This sounds fabulous. This is a weekend project...tomorrow for sure.

Christy said...

Please let me know if you are ever ready to divulge your Archibald's copycat recipe. I am in Texas and only get to Archibald's about once a year. The last time I was there was over 4th of July this past summer and we tried to call and the number was disconnected. It appeared that Archibald's closed and then we found the same online. :( I just can't imagine living the rest of my life without anymore of that sauce!