Honey Beer Sauce, Take 2

Tonight I had much better success with the sauce. Still not perfect, but I did not burn it and the pork chops turned out fine.

This time the recipe was thus:

2 oz. Bell's Oberon Beer
2 oz. Dutch Gold Orange Blossom Honey

Combined in a medium sauce pan and brought to a boil over medium heat (this did not take long given the reduced volume of liquid and the increased surface area of using a larger pan). Reduced heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

The pork chops I cooked to medium in a some olive oil with a little cracked pepper and kosher salt. I also fried up some thin slices of Granny Smith apple in butter to put on top of the chops.

On the side was some plain white rice and some sugar snap peas that I briefly stir-fried with olive oil and soy sauce (to add a salty/savory counter to the sweet sauce).

The sauce was a little runny, and too sweet. I think I needed to reduce it a little more (to solve the runny problem) and next time I will try a different beer. Oberon is a relatively sweet wheat beer. Next time I think I will try a lager such as Sam Adams.

The apples were soggy, but nice and tart. I will use Granny Smith again next time, but will try deep frying them instead of pan frying. I am not sure how the chef got his fried apples crispy, as apples naturally go mushy when cooked. Perhaps I will ask my brother, who is a professional chef, and knows his way around a kitchen.

Jen quite liked it, though, so the meal was a success.