Tonight I put together a meal that turned out shockingly well, and this is my attempt to write down the recipe so we don't forget it. I started with one recipe and decided it would end up a little flat and boring, so I ended up expanding it and making a great dish, but I did it what I call "Bobby Flay style", meaning I added a few things as I went along to enhance the flavors based on samples, so I'm going to try to write this down.
I started out with 6 boneless pork chops (about 2 lbs.), about 1/2 inch thick. I pulled my first ideas from the Men's Health "Spanish Style Pork Chops" that's part of their Guy Meals Made Easy lineup. For that beginning part, here's what I did:
6 boneless pork chops
3 TBsp. McCormick's Grill Mates Sweet & Smoky Rub
(NOTE: we couldn't find smoked paprika or its next best substitute, chipotle chili powder, at our local grocery store, but this McCormick's rub has both in it, so we decided to use it instead)
The juice of 2 oranges
4 TBsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. Spice World oregano in a jar
(I had some of the jarred oregano that I found at the grocery store a while back for a moment like this)
2 tsp. Spice World garlic in a jar
(lately I've been using the jarred garlic because it's very handy and easy to keep)
2 tsp. Spice World roasted garlic in a jar
(again, something I saw at the store a while back and figured it would come in handy for adding a little flavor to a random recipe)
I combined all of the ingredients but the pork chops in a bowl and mixed them all together. Then I put this mixture in a large Ziploc with the pork chops and marinated for about 2 hours.
I am not a big fan of pork chops that don't have some sort of glaze or sauce on them. In the 2 hour wait, I started envisioning a sauce/glaze that could be put together with the pork chops, based roughly on the sauce I noticed in the Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2010 book for Pork with Pomegranate Pan Sauce (I'm realizing that the recipe on the website via this link is not the same as the version in the book, and I recommend the book version of the recipe). To test out flavors for a sauce/glaze, I made a dip out of the McCormick spice rub above, some roasted garlic olive oil, a container of plain yogurt, and a few dashs of balsamic vinegar. I kept adding spice rub, olive oild and balsamic vinegar until the flavors were balanced, and then I served it up with some honey whole wheat snack crackers to Amy. As we tried it, I discovered the flavors were a little flat. I ultimately decided that it needed some raspberry jam, but we didn't have any. Instead, I grabbed some strawberry jelly out of the refrigerator and started adding it. The first dose helped, but it wasn't perfect. I added more, much more than I would have expected, and it turned out perfectly smoky, spicy and sweet all at the same time. The sharpness of raspberry jam would have been the exact flavor I was shooting for, but strawberry jelly did a good job. When Amy said it was good, I knew I had the right combination.
We have a new Calphalon 12-Inch Round Grill Pan
For the sauce, I used the following:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1-2 tsp. Spice World roasted garlic in a jar
The remainder of the pork chop marinade
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of heavy cream
1/2 to 3/4 cup of strawberry jam (or raspberry jam)
As soon as the pork chops were out of the grill pan, I added a little more olive oil to the pan and a tablespoon or so of the roasted garlic from the jar. I sauteed the garlic a little bit and then poured the marinade into the grill pan. If I'd had some shallots on hand, I would have sauteed some chopped shallots as well, but sadly, I didn't. Due to the heat of the pan things were cooking quickly, so I poured in the marinade, loosening up the pan juices from the pork chops. I then I poured this mixture of pan juices and marinade into a separate large skillet to cook. To this mixture I added 2 Tbsp. of balsamic vinegar to give it a little bite and some heavy cream to soften and blend the flavors and thicken it up (although I'm not sure I needed the heavy cream, but my intent was to replicate the effects of the yogurt in the dip). I rounded out the sauce with strawberry jam (again, I'd recommend raspberry, but I didn't have any).
I cooked all the ingredients, boiling them together in the saucepan on medium to medium-high heat for about 7 minutes until it became slightly thick. Next, I took the pork chops out of the oven, and put them in the skillet with the sauce as it cooked. I cooked the pork chops in the sauce for 2 minutes, turning them quite a bit to make sure they were well-covered with the sauce. This turned the sauce into a glaze on the pork chops that really sealed in the pork chop flavors with a smoky and sweet coating.
We served the pork chops with some Spanish rice out of a package and some orange sections. The flavors blended together perfectly. I was shocked at how well it all worked out and how well-blended the spicy, sweet, smoky and tangy flavors were together.
I tried to turn what was left of the sauce into a glaze, but it was very thick. I think the heavy cream may have congealed the jam too much. I put this compote-like mixture on top of my pork chops, but the pork chop tasted better without this addition. I might leave out the heavy cream next time to see how the remaining sauce thickens.
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