freshbeans wrote:

In fairness to friends and family in the southern states; This is a pretty big departure from the cherished (nearly sacred) traditional recipe so, no offense intended!

The traditional is a simple affair. After pan-frying a ham steak, pork chop, or some other high fat morsel of goodness, simply deglaze your fry-pan with a cup of coffee.
Pour over grits...serve.

My departure involves thickening and binding the gravy, plus the addition of some other ingredients.

In a separate saucepan, I combined 3 tbsp of butter with a heaping tbsp of flour to create a thickening roux.
As these 2 ingredients were melting together, I added a tsp of crushed chipoltle.
As soon as it was fully melted and mixed, I added 6oz of apple cider and brought to a simmer.
Reduce by 1/3...set aside.

Moving back to my other frypan....the pork is looking done, with lots of nice crispy bits in the pan.

Deglaze pan with 2 shots of a dark roasted espresso, add other sauce...simmer 2 minutes.


The dark roasted coffee really brings in a nice smokiness that works well with the sweet apple and chipoltle.

Roasted Pork Medallions with Cheddar Grits and Smoky Apple Red-Eye Gravy.

-Enjoy! -Scott