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Pork Chops with Peanut-Guajillo Sauce
Guajillo chilies and roasted peanuts produce a rich, earthy sauce for thick-cut, bone-in pork chops. We especially liked the deep color and bright flavor of guajillo chilies, but New Mexico chilies were good, too. Whichever you use, look for pods that are soft and pliable, an indicator of freshness. The árbol chili supplies the heat; you can omit it if you like, or substitute ¼ to ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (pepper flakes do not need to be toasted, so add them directly to the blender). You will need a 12-inch oven-safe skillet for this recipe.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t use the chilies without first toasting them. *Toasting enhances their flavor and crisps the skins, which results in a smoother puree.
40 minutes
Ingredients
-
4
large guajillo chilies (1 ounce), stemmed, seeded and torn into 2-inch pieces
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1
árbol chili, stemmed
Directions
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01Heat the oven to 450°F with a rack in the middle position. In a small saucepan over medium, bring 1½ cups water to a simmer. Cover and reduce to low. In a 12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium-high, toast both varieties of chili and the garlic, pressing with a wide metal spatula and flipping halfway through, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to the saucepan, pressing to submerge them in the water. Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let stand until the chilies have softened, about 10 minutes. Set the skillet aside.
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I used New Mexico mild chiles, and one arbol, and the sauce still had some heat to it, which we liked. On a boneless chop (what I had on hand), the stove time was more than enough, no oven necessary. I only had plain peanuts and so added a bit more honey (no agave in the house). Nice results. It makes a lot more sauce than you need for four chops. I don't care for the sharp bite of fresh oregano leaves, but the full amount processed completely into the sauce was delicious.
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This is a great recipe for some flavorful pork chops - everything comes together with the sauce and the oregano. I made one mistake - not realizing that the recipe called for thick cut pork chops I’d picked up two thin cuts from my local grocery butcher counter; they made it only 3 minutes and change on my gas stove over medium-high heat, and when they went into the oven, the smoking was so rough that I let them cook for only a minute and then just turned off the oven. It worked! I left them in the hot (but now “off” oven for a couple of minutes, checked the temp and pulled them out after no more than 3 minutes. I’ve never in my life picked a pork chop clean - but it totally happened tonight! (Also: I don’t love super spicy things so I omitted the arbor and red chili flake substitute, and didn’t know where to find the guajillo peppers so used New Mexico ones instead. It sure seemed perfect to me.