Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops

Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops are thin slices of pork which have been quickly baked to perfection in a spicy, sweet, and zesty sauce.  A great main dish anytime of the week!

Food is – and always has been – a love/hate relationship for me.  I love food and I love bad food.  Oftentimes, I tend to eat too many bad foods that should be eaten and enjoyed in moderation.  (I have a love/hate relationship with moderation too!)  For example, Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops is a great tasting dish, but I know I should eat pork in moderation, but I don’t.  You see, when it comes to pork, I have very little self control.

Growing up, food was not only a source of fuel and sustenance, but also a source of entertainment.  During my learning years, Newfoundlander’s placed a large emphasis on food and family.  I moved away from Newfoundland in the early 90’s, but I’m still very heavily influenced by the culture, the language, and the tradition.  As a child, food was the means that brought family and friends together; not only in times of celebration, but with every meal.

For example, food brought my sister, my brother, and me to the table at precisely five o’clock every night.  We all knew that dinner time was at five and if you weren’t home to eat it, well, that wasn’t tolerated much.  My mom worked most of the time, but not as much as my dad.  She worked seasonally for the most part, so meals were on the table at the same time every day.  I can think of only a few times when all five of us were not at the table for a meal at the same time.

My mom loved to cook meat.  You see, there was no such thing as a vegetarian in small town Newfoundland back in the 80’s.  We ate lots of root vegetables – beets, turnips, potatoes, carrots, etc., but veggies such as peppers, celery, radishes, etc., were very rarely seen.

Pork was one dish that my mom could prepare like nobody else.  In fact, a year or two before my mom became too ill to cook much anymore, Tuesdays at my mom’s home were known as Pork Chop Tuesdays.  My love of pork that has been baked in a sauce comes from her.  Similarly to these Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops, my mom’s pork chop recipe included ketchup, and brown sugar.  I used honey instead of brown sugar, but the end result is the same.

Everyone I can think of loved my mom’s pork chops.  And she loved to cook.  She loved to cook for us and for company.  Speaking of company, which was the term she always used, she would never dare say that she was hosting a dinner party or entertaining.  She simply said we have company coming tonight.  Company could have meant our Aunt and Uncle, it could have meant the neighbours, or (surprise!) the pastor and his wife just showing up!

Entertaining was not done in the sense that you might be thinking.  Nowadays, entertaining at one’s home usually involves a well-planned and orchestrated brunch or barbeque.  And, the odd time, there might be a dinner party.  But, in our home, entertainment often meant inviting one or two families over for dinner or lunch.  And more times than not, the moms in those invited families came early enough to help prepare dinner.  I can’t tell you how many times there were more than one mom in our kitchen at the same time!

It might help to note that mealtimes are named differently in Newfoundland than most other parts of the world.  Off the island, there’s breakfast, then lunch, followed by dinner.  If anyone were to have a bite to eat after dinner it’s usually referred to as a snack or a late dessert.  In Newfoundland, though, mealtimes are as follows: breakfast, dinner, supper, and lunch.  Oh, and lunch – the meal you eat before bedtime – was never something you opted out of!

I’m getting carried away again!  I’ve basically written all of this just to tell you that my Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops are delicious and that you’ll love them!  And, if my mom were still with us, she’d love them too, but never one to hold back an opinion, I’m sure she would complain about the sriracha, because she could never handle the spice.

By the way, if you have not been reading  posts from Lord Byron’s Kitchen for long, allow me to show you how much I love pork.  The number one recipe on my site in terms of views and comments is Honey Garlic Baked Pork Bites, followed by my Garlicky Butter Chive Parmesan Pork Chops recipe.  For now though, here’s the recipe for my Spicy Honey Lime Pork Chops; enjoy!!