We love our wings in the Midwest but until I made wing sauce, equal parts real butter to hot sauce, I hadn’t had wing sauce. Sadly, and I know it is about cost, I doubt a single wing shop uses real butter in their sauce anymore. The good thing is you can have the real deal, easily, and without having to buy a pre-made version that is less then stellar. This recipe is based on a version of Farmhouse Chicken in Vinegar Sauce which is a classic French dish from Alsace but in order to make it American I thought it needed hot sauce and, well, since pork chops are a staple on the Hoosier plate it just seemed like a natural.

Serves 4

canola oil

4 pork chops

1/2 cup unsalted butter, 1 stick

1/3 cup hot sauce

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon cider vinegar

1 tablespoon parsley, minced 1

tablespoon garlic, minced

2 tablespoons shallot or red onion, minced

1/2 cup broth

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1. Heat the oven to 375˚F.

2. Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Let the chops sit long enough at room temperature so that the salt dissolves into the meat.

3. Place a large skillet, one big enough to hold all the chops comfortably, over medium high heat. Add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Brown the chops deeply on both sides.

4. Remove the chops to a sheet tray to rest.

5. Drain any excess oil from the pan. Turn the heat to low and add the garlic and the shallots and let them soften.

6. Add the butter, honey, vinegar and hot sauce. The idea is to emulsify the butter with the sauce so swirl the two together and don’t let it boil. Once the butter has melted and is warm add the parsley and remove it from the heat to a place where it will stay warm.

7. Place the pork chops into the oven and finish cooking them. They shouldn’t take longer then 10 minutes in the oven but it depends on how long it took you to brown them.

8. Remove the chops from the oven, plate and sauce them. Serve.