Molasses & Coffee Marinated Pork Chops

OH, heaven is the aroma of fresh roasted coffee. It makes my mouth water, and when Alton Brown did an episode of Good Eats that featured pork chop recipe with coffee as an ingredient, I just had to make them... but of course tweaking the recipe to make it my own. The coffee brings a dark richness to it, and the molasses is sweet and heavy. I wasn't able to grill it, but suspect that if I had, it would have been ten times better and that is unimaginable since it was finger licking good baked. Here is the recipe!...

Molasses and Coffee Marinated Pork Chops

Ingredients

• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (I used a horseradish Dijon)
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger  
• 4 6-to-8-ounce bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick)

Directions

Combine the coffee, molasses, honey, vinegar, mustard, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, the ginger, and pork chops in a 1-gallon zip-top bag; seal and shake to combine. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

Grilling Directions

(if you cannot grill, continue to "Baking Directions") Preheat a grill to medium-high. Remove the pork from the bag. Pour the marinade into a saucepan; boil gently over medium-high heat, stirring, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 12 to 15 minutes.

Grill the pork chops for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until they reach an internal temperature of 145°. Let rest for 5 minutes; serve with the glaze.

Baking Directions

Preheat oven to 425°. Remove pork from bag and place in a Pyrex baking dish with room so none of the pork chops overlap but fit as snuggly as possible. Pour the marinade into a saucepan; boil gently over medium-high heat, stirring, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 12 to 15 minutes.

Bake the pork chops for 20 to 30 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 145°. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve with the glaze.

Chad and I concluded that if you added maybe 1/4 cup soysauce (eliminating the addition of salt), a couple dashes toasted sesame oil and a little more ginger, it could really get a great asian flavor to it. It is very close to a teryaki flavor.