The Sauce Makes The Meal

No doubt about it, I am a saucy kind of girl, in more ways than one too. 🙂 I love sauces on my foods; all kinds of sauces. I like how they add to the flavors and depth of the dish, but mostly, I like how they keep meats juicy and tender.

Pork was in the dinner rotation and I needed a sauce to go with it. I had a couple of things in mind, but decided upon making a new BBQ sauce to add to the pork, both as a marinade and a sauce to add before serving it. BBQ is one of Larry’s favorites. I am more picky about my BBQ sauces. I don’t like them too sweet, and prefer them with just a hint of sweetness, and more smoky and spicy. This new sauce was the perfect combination. It was yet another creation from my Ghirardelli Cookbook. It’s called Polk Gulch Sauce. I served it with pork, but it would also go very well with ribs or chicken too.

Polk Street is a famous street in San Francisco. It’s been around since the late 1800’s. Originally, Polk Street was known as Polkstrasse because it was in the German part of town, with mostly German immigrants who resided there. Polk Gulch got it’s name because Polk Street runs over an old stream at the bottom of a gently sloped valley. It has always been a very unique area, with a very colorful and wild past. Most recently, the area was known for being one of San Francisco’s original gay mecca areas. Today, living in Polk Gulch offers residents a dense urban feel and most residents rent their homes. In Polk Gulch there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks.

With such a bold and colorful history, it is only fitting that the foods would be just as bold and colorful too. The Polk Gulch BBQ sauce lives up to its name and the reputation of it’s namesake.

Polk Gulch BBQ Sauce

I think the combination of the lemon juice and the chocolate are what make the flavors just pop and come alive.

1 cup catsup

1 cup cut onion

2 tsp garlic

1 TBSP Ghirardelli ground chocolate

1 TBSP liquid smoke

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP honey

1 tsp ginger

1/2 -1 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

Combine everything together in a food processor and blend until it is all smooth and liquidy.

Once the sauce is liquid, place it all in a saucepan, and bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens.

When the sauce was ready, I marinated the pork chops in it for about 30 minutes before placing them in the oven to cook. I roasted them in the oven at 400* F or 204*C and cooked for about 30 minutes, or until the pork juices were running clear and the internal temperature reached 165* F or 74*C.

When it was cooked, I topped it with more sauce and served it next to a baked potato and green beans with mushrooms, garlic and peppers. Because my sauce was a thick, bold, hearty sauce, I chose a bold, fruity red wine to accompany the dinner.

The sauce was sweet, but not too sweet. It had tang, it had smoke and it had just the right amount of heat. In a word – PERFECT! It’s OK to be saucy. Everything, and everyone, needs to be sauced up every now and then. 🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.