http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Firehouse-Family-Friends-lifetime/dp/1456313401/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325630074&sr=1-1-spell - http://www.amazon.com/Recipes-Firehouse-Family-Friends-lifetime/dp/1456313401/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1325630074&sr=1-1-spell

 

His book has a lot of great things in it - I've tried a few, and I want to try even more, as the year progresses. My two main goals are his four-cheese macaroni and his Salisbury steak, but there really are so many more that I want to try as well.

 

One of the things I found interesting was a slow-cooker recipe for barbecued pork chops. Now, many of us assume that "real" barbecue is cooking over an open fire, usually over slow heat, and so on; that's all well and good - however, the truth and the fact is that in the middle of a Montana winter, or perhaps in an area where such methods aren't viable (an apartment, for instance), or in any other of a dozen situations, so-called "real" barbecue simply isn't an option. My question is, why deprive ourselves of some excellent eating just because of circumstance?

 

Dave proves that there is no reason to do that at all. His method here works - it's as simple as that. The usage of pork chops is a very good alternative in today's world - where leaner cuts of meat (often not conducive for long, slow barbecue) are often sought - and his recipe for home-made barbecue sauce is simple, flavourful, and simply outstanding.

 

Saturday morning - I would love to barbecue, but it's 55 below zero outside - without the windchill - and the wind is indeed howling, driving the snow into the house like beads of a sandblaster. Wife is at work, I've got a dozen things on the Honey-do list, and the kids are already fighting and causing chaos in the house. Besides, I'm out of charcoal. What to do?

 

Consult Dave - that's what we do!

 

I'll let Dave share the actual particulars of the recipe, if he chooses to do so. This step-by-step will give you the basic run-down, and if you like it, you can ask him - or simply buy the book!

 

Looking here, we see all we need for a great barbecue dinner:

 

 

A note on the pork - I had no pork chops in the house, but there was a beautiful pork loin roast sitting in the fridge, and I decided to use that, slicing it into portion-sized boneless "chops:"

 

 

Then finely diced up the celery:

 

 

Onions:

 

 

And garlic:

 

 

To these aromatics, I added the tomatoes:

 

 

Diced tomatoes worked just fine, but crushed tomatoes would be a good choice as well.

 

Once this was all mixed around well with the other ingredients for the sauce:

 

 

I placed about a third of the sauce in the bottom of my crock pot, followed by the pork chops, laying them out so:

 

 

and then topped the chops with the rest of the sauce:

 

 

I then turned on the crock pot and let it go for several hours, while I spent the day getting a lot of things done around the house, rather than freezing myself to death and tending a quirky, hard-to-manage fire in the depths of a cold, windy Montana winter day.

 

Dave's recipe mentions a "slow cooker," and I have one of these in the form of a roaster oven, very similar to this one:

 

 

However, this was way too big for a project like this, so I chose the crock pot, sacrificing some browning and searing (and the flavour that goes with it). Alternately, a person could do these in the oven in a covered enamled Dutch oven, or perhaps a glass or earthenware baking dish; even an appropriately-sized roasting pan would work well. 250-300 degrees would probably be a good temperature range.

 

Later that day, I noticed, to my horror, that while the pork chops were well-done, moist and tender, the crock pot had come un-plugged somewhere along the line, and the vegetables in the sauce had not softened much at all.

 

No worries ~ I plugged the crock pot back in and set it to warm, to keep the chops happy, then removed nearly all the sauce (save a little to keep things moist) to a pot on the stovetop for cooking and reducing:

 

 

Once the sauce had reduced to a pretty good level, darkening as well into a rich, savory-tangy concoction, i decided to smooth it out a little with my wand blender:

 

 

This is not a required step - it was simply personal preference on my part, and also to smooth out the sauce, since it didn't get the chance to truly develop in the slow-cooking process. For those who prefer a chunkier sauce, simply leave it be, and be impressed.

 

When this was done, I served the chops up alongside mashed potatoes and covered everything with this outstanding sauce:

 

 

As you can see, this plate got the "end piece" that had been butterfied.

 

Results were nothing short of magnificent - I feel immediately in love with dave's sauce and also enjoyed the tender, moist delicious loin chops:

 

 

The slow cooking really provided a way for the tangy-sweet-savory sauce to work its way into the chops, and it was an impressive dish all around.

 

If you're looking for a great home-made sauce, this is it. If you're looking for a great way to use pork chops, you've found it. If you're looking for an alternative on the days when you simply can't futz around with a slow-cooking barbecue pit - look no more. This is it!

 

My thanks to Dave for sharing this with me, and to you, for taking a look. If you give this a try, you won't be disappointed.

Looks like you nailed that recipe!

Here is the recipe proper for those who may be interested:

Slow Cooker Barbecued Pork Chops

---

I know, I know....slow cooker and barbecue do not compute!
Trust me on this one....you're gonna love it like it just came off the smoker.

Serves 6

   4 Thick center cut pork chops
   1 large onion, sliced
   2 ribs celery, sliced
   1 green bell pepper sliced into strips
   1 - 14.5-oz can stewed tomatoes
   2 cloves garlic, minced
   1/2 cup ketchup
   2 tbsp cider vinegar
   2 tbsp brown sugar
   2 tbsp Lea and Perrins Worcestershire sauce
   1 tbsp lemon juice
   1 cube beef bouillon
   1/2 tsp liquid smoke
   2 tbsp cornstarch
   2 tbsp water


Place pork chops in slow cooker.
Mix remaining ingredients except cornstarch and water in large bowl, stir and pour over chops.
Cook on low 8-10 hours, then mix water and cornstarch and add to cooker.
Cook 30 minutes more on high or until sauce thickens.
Serve over hot rice, or mashed potatoes.