Pork Chops with Rhubarb-Chipotle Sauce

Sorry it has been such a long time. It seems like life is getting busier and busier. Finally, I have time to sit down and post a delicious recipe, mostly since school is over. The season of farmers markets started anew last weekend, as the downtown farmers market began. This is the time for gardens and greens. To honor this season it seemed fit to make a recipe out of one of the greens you can find this time of year, rhubarb. Rhubarb is usually paired with something sweet due to it’s tangy nature, but this recipe does something a little different. This rhubarb-chipotle sauce is sour and slightly spicy and goes perfectly will with Christiansen Family Farm’s sweet pork chops, or any pork chops for that matter.  This recipe puts a twist on this green, which I always think of being combined with strawberries. Try it out! You might find this new rhubarb just as appealing as I did.

Ingredients:

4 pork chops (Christiansen Family Farm)

Sauce:
1 onion, chopped
2 tbl. olive oil
4 cups chopped rhubarb 
1 chipotle pepper, chopped
1/3 cup apple juice (Red Barn Cider Mill)
1/2 cup honey (Clifford Family Farm)
1/4 honey vinegar (Slide Ridge Honey)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place pork chops in baking dish and bake approximately 20-30 minutes or until still slightly pink.
2. Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in large, heavy saucepan. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent. Add the chopped rhubarb and cook, stirring often, until the rhubarb just begins to become soft.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the rhubarb is soft and the sauce takes on a thick consistency. Test for your desired sweet or sour taste and add either more honey or vinegar to your taste.
4. Place sauce on top of pork chops for the last 10 minutes of bake time.

We served this with some sauteed asparagus for a great meal. You can also serve this savory sauce with cheese and crackers or on pork spareribs. I am also going to freeze some and will let you know how that goes later in the year, when there is no rhubarb around except what can be found in the frozen section of your supermarket.