Drunken Pork Chops

I've had pork chops many different times in my life and each of those recipes tend to all involve Cream of Chicken Soup. I was excited to find a new and different way to make a pork chop that did not involve that CoC soup (it's delightful, but at the same time, let's try something different people!).  

The one thing that I did different, I didn't get dark beer. Why? A) I don't drink dark beer, and I don't know that I've ever seen the Man drink dark beer. B) why buy a 6 or 12 pack of something we won't drink. C) I was at Kroger and looking through the build your own 6 pack and thought I grabbed a dark beer, but it turned out to be a regular beer in a dark bottle.  Anyway, the recipe turned out wonderful anyway, so really, I don't know that the dark beer is completely needed.  Also, I think who ever wrote this recipe may have had a couple of the dark beers before writing it, because I was doing a whole lot of guessing as far as heat settings go.  Also, I used my new favorite Ketchup in the wide world 78 Red Ketchup. I ordered 4 bottles, 2 regular 2 spicy--I used the spicy in this recipe. Dan really liked them. When I told him we were having pork chops for dinner, his shoulders sunk a little... but when he tasted them he thought they were great... And he told me he wasn't excited because he always associates chops with cream of chicken soup! I think we will have this style of chops often!

Seriously Scrumptious Drunken Pork Chops

• 5-6 pork chops- bone-in or boneless, your choice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 bottle of beer (The darker beer the better.  I use New Belguim 1554. I would not recommend going as dark as a Guinness though.)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup ketchup (I know, I know....but TRUST ME!)

Put a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in the bottom of a skillet. Season the chops with salt and pepper and brown both sides. While pork chops are browning, combine beer, ketchup, and brown sugar in a bowl. Pour sauce mixture over the pork chops and simmer for 40-45 minutes. Remove pork chops and thicken the sauce a bit. In a small cup, combine 1 TBSP of cornstarch in 1/4 cup of water. Stir to combine and add to boiling sauce, whisk so no lumps form. Put pork chops back in the thickened sauce, flip to coat. Serve over mashed potatoes or rice.
Have your drink and eat it too!