Chipotle orange pork chops

When I decide to make something from the every growing stack of recipes I find on blogs, it's usually very random. I didn't realize until writing this post that the Enchiladas from my previous post and these Chipotle orange pork chops were both from the elly says opah! blog. Kudos to elly says opah! cause she is 2 for 2. The whole family went gaga over these chops.

I originally picked out this recipe because after making the enchiladas, I had almost a whole can of chipotles leftover. I bought the smallest can there was, but when you only use one or two at a time, that small can lasts and lasts. Luckily, the chipotles have a long shelf life in the fridge.

I had 7 thin cut boneless pork chops, so I doubled all the ingredients except the chipotle. I wanted to go for zing verses heat. One chipotle was the perfect amount for us. The chops had just enough spice to make our lips tingle and no one was gulping down gallons of water. I used pulpless orange juice from concentrate instead of freshly squeezed the recipe calls for. This was a great time saver in more ways than one. We drank the last of the juice at breakfast so more juice needed to be made anyhow, and I didn't have to spend time juicing the orange without a citrus juicer.

The marinade itself was so simple but the flavors were very complimentary. It was salty, spicy, sweet and tangy, but none of the elements overpowered the other. Everything blended together harmoniously. Mrblocko thought this marinade would be good on chicken as well. We'll definitely be testing that out.

We were very lucky this meal did not start or end with disaster. Because the chops were so thin, Mrblocko was worried about them drying out under the broiler. We opted for grilling them instead. However, if you notice the picture, they don't really have much of a char to them. Mrblocko had a hard time keeping the grill lit and the flames at a decent level. It was very windy out and we thought perhaps we were low on propane. After dinner Mrblocko went to check the tank and THEN he noticed the tank was not hooked up properly. Thank goodness the whole thing didn't go kaboom.

Broiled Chipotle Orange Chicken from Elly Says Opa!
1/3 cup orange juice (about 1 juiced orange)
1 chipotle in adobo, chopped, plus 1 tsp. adobo sauce
1 tsp. soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pork chops

In a small food processor or blender, combine first 4 ingredients. Process until fairly smooth. Place pork chops in a non-reactive bowl and pour juice mix over them, rubbing it into the chops. Let them marinate 20-30 min. Preheat broiler. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper and place on a broiling pan. Pour marinade into a saucepan. Broil pork chops until slightly undercooked (about 4 min per side for a boneless chop, longer for bone-in or fatter chops). Meanwhile, cook reserved marinade over med high til reduced by half. Brush pork chops on one side with the reduced marinade. Broil an additional minute. Flip and repeat with the other side.