Sunday Gravy with yeah right. Pork Chops: The Power and the Glory

As a hypothetical question I’ve often asked if you could only consume one type of animal flesh for the rest of your life what would it be? Mine is easy…Panda.

Since panda is expensive and a bit difficult to procure I would settle for pork. Goddamn I love me some pig. Even though I eat chicken four or five days every week (boneless skinless chicken breast at that) I would still take the glorious, wonderful, under appreciated pig. Think about it. Bacon, ham, ribs, pork roast, pork loin, cracklin’s, sausages. Holy fuck. Is there nothing that magical swine can’t do? Which brings us to today. Pork chops. Are there two more incredible words on the planet? Besides Butt Sex?

Since I’m feeling magnanimous I’m going to give you a lot of recipes for pork chops.

For some stupid reason I was really late getting to the grilled pork chop game. I used to do the fried chops all of the time and just within the past ten years discovered the grilled chop. What the fuck was I thinking? A grilled pork chop is such an easy and delicious dish I feel like I wasted years of my life by not consuming grilled pork chops sooner. My life has been a lie!

If you still like doing the fried pork chop I have a recipe for that too.

Fried pork chops.

2 cups of milk.

3 teaspoons of salt.

8 pork chops. I’m a bone in kind of guy but the boneless sirloin chops do a nice job in this recipe.

2 cups of panko bread crumbs.

3 cloves of minced garlic.

2 tsps of fresh rosemary.

2 tbl vegetable oil

2 tbl butter.

Using a 1 gallon freezer bag – you will grow to appreciate these bags – pour in the milk, salt and minced garlic and the pork chops. Marinate overnight.

Mix together the bread crumbs and rosemary. Remove a pork chop at a time from the milk mixture and dredge in the bread crumbs. Using a cast iron skillet (!!) over medium heat heat up the oil and then add the butter. Working with about 3-4 pork chops at a time, cook the chops about 4 minutes per side.

We will not be doing fried chops today. We’re are going to make grilled pork chops two ways. One is a brined chop and the other is a spicy Korean style marinated chop.

Brined pork chops.

1 cup of water.

2 cups of cold water.

2 tbl kosher salt

2 bay leaves

3 cloves of crushed garlic

10-15 peppercorns.

Pork chops.

Bring the cup of water to a boil, stir in salt until it dissolves. Add the two cups of cold water to cool off the brine. Add the remaining ingredients and place in a one gallon freezer bag and marinate overnight.

You can just grill these over a charcoal fire at this point. Today I basted with a little Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce. But another amazing idea is this:

Cumin Rubbed Pork Chops.

Brined pork chops – see above.

3 tsp cumin.

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper.

2 tbl olive oil.

1 tsp salt.

1 tsp chili powder.

Using a small mixing bowl pour in the olive oil and add the cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder and make a paste. If too thick, add a little more oil. Rub both sides of the pork chops with the paste and grill over hot coals. About 4-5 minutes per side. This dish goes great with…

Bonus recipe! Pineapple Serrano salsa!

1/2 fresh pineapple, cleaned, cored and cut into smaller sized chunks.

1/2 cup finely minced red onion.

1 fresh serrano chile diced.

1 tbl lime juice.

Combine ingredients and serve with that cumin rubbed pork chop. Hell yes.

And finely this righteous bastard.

Spicy Sticky Korean Pork Chops.

2 lbs pork chops.

1/2 cup of Gochujang (Korean red pepper paste available online and at Korean markets).

3 cloves minced garlic.

2 tbl dark brown sugar.

2 tbl soy sauce.

2 tbl rice vinegar.

2 tsp sesame oil. (Whatever you do, never drop and break a bottle of sesame oil. Just don’t).

1 tbl kosher salt.

In small mixing bowl combine all ingredients except pork chops and stir together.  Take about 3-4 tablespoons of the mixture and place in a small bowl for basting tomorrow. In a one gallon freezer bag – are you seeing a theme here? – add the chops and the mixture and marinate overnight.

Grill these bad boys over a charcoal grill. Watch carefully because the sugar will have a tendency to burn. Cook about 4-5 minutes per side and turn frequently. Baste with the reserved sauce from yesterday.

What have we done here? Just brought on the savory, smoky, spicy, sticky glorious deliciousness that everyone of us deserves. Grilled pork chops are a natural fucking treasure and should be treated that way. This pairs really well with a Shiraz, a Cabernet Sauvignon or a really hoppy beer like my good friend Racer 5 up there.

This should give you an arsenal of pork chop recipes to sally forth with. You should never have to resort to Shake-N-Bake again!

Although I still have a little nostalgia for Shake-N-Bake pork chops. “And I helped!”

See you next time!

Grill things!