Pan-Grilled Marinated Pork Chops

It's been a bit of a crazy week (or three) and I haven't made time for blogging.  I thought with school started, things would slide back into some sense of normalcy. Hahaaahhhaaaa (sound of crazed laughter) because that just did not happen.

I have two really simple recipes that I made and semi-photographed but have not taken the time to sit down and write the post.  Today is the day I'm going to get 'er done.

These pork chops were so pretty when I picked them up at the grocery store.  They were called boneless rib-eyes on the label.  They had a bit of marbling (often absent in pork) and I hoped they would end up as delicious as they looked.

Everyone said they were great...both males had two pieces.  I certainly liked them too.

I grabbed a couple of marinade recipes - ditched the things we didn't like and crossed my fingers that it would work.  Here's what I did.

PORK CHOP MARINADE

Ingredients:

Zest and juice of one orange (I used a navel orange)
Zest and juice of one lime (I actually think I'll skip the zest next time - lime zest is a little bitter)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger (next time I'd prefer fresh grated ginger)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Method:

Place all of the above ingredients into a gallon Ziploc bag, seated inside a bowl to prevent spills.  Seal and shake.  Return to bowl.  Unseal.

Place pork chops into bag with marinade, reseal, squish things around a bit, and allow to sit on the counter for two hours. (Assuming you have a cool house - if you live in a hot area - maybe marinate in the fridge and bring out 30 minutes before cooking to let the chops come up to room temperature)

Spray stove-top grill pan with a spray cooking oil.
Heat pan to medium high temp to ensure grill marks.
Place chops on pan straight from marinade.
Flip as soon as good grill marks are formed.
If you have really thick chops, like I did, you might want to finish them in the oven.
I had my oven ready at 400 degrees and moved the pan down into the oven as soon as I had good marks on both sides.
We do not like undercooked pork - when you grow up that way, it's really hard to change.
I went for 140 degree internal temp and then pulled them back to to the stove top.
I placed a couple of pats of butter on top and allowed them to melt down over the meat.  Ended up medium to medium well...just the way we like them.
Served promptly, pouring pan juices over the meat.

They were moist and tasty.  Perfect sides included a green salad, baked sweet potatoes, and baked apples.  Yum!  This was a great way to enjoy a grilled hunk of meat without having to stand out in 100 degree temperatures over a hot grill.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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