While at the grocery store looking over the meats, three butchers were ganging up on another butcher.
“You don’t barbecue pork chops?”
“No. I mean, I never have. I just cook them on the stove.”
“You have NEVER barbecued pork chops?”
“No. Why? I mean, I just learned to fry them in a frying pan.”
“Oh my. I don’t know. I think we’re going to have to revoke your butcher status.”
It got me thinking. I’ve been guilty of sauteing pork chops for quite some time. I do have a great way of cooking them, always moist and good, which I got out of Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. I also have a good recipe for Applesauce Porkchops. When I need the chops to sit for a while in the oven and still be good, I like this baked chop recipe. But I couldn’t remember the last time I barbecued them somehow!
The first thing I think about when I’m barbecuing is marinating, somehow. I was going to make my old standby marinade for pork tenderloin, even though I was cooking pork chops last night. But I didn’t have any fresh ginger so I added some Dijon mustard instead and a few chopped scallions. Mmmmm. Delicious! The mustard added just a hint of a bite.
Bourbon Marinade for Pork
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1/4 cup ? Dijon mustard
- 2 Tbs brown sugar
- 2 Tbs oil
- 2-3 green onions, sliced
Instructions
- Mix it all together and marinade your meat a few hours to overnight.
I marinated the bone-in pork chops all day in this, turning the bag a few times.
Got a hot fire going on the grill and then turned over the actual cooking to a guest. I think he did about 5 minutes on each side, then turned the grill off for a few more minutes. They were perfect! Flavorful. Tender. Delicious.
I have a variation on this marinade that I think is great with pork. We used it on some pork steaks the other night. I used 4 tbs. coarse ground mustard, 2 tbs. olive oil, 1 tbs. white balsamic vinegar, 1 1/2 tbs minced garlic (about 4 cloves??), about 1 tsp. dried rosemary crushed between your fingers, salt or seasoned salt to taste. The marinade is a thick marinade, and I left it on the meat for grilling. Very good with pork. I think it would work with any white meat (chicken, fish).
Of course it did! Here are a few other ideas. https://cheapcooking.com/Recipes/pork-marinades.htm
And I’ll bet some of the chicken marinades would work well too: https://cheapcooking.com/Recipes/chicken-marinades.htm. Maybe you can find one with less salt and make both you AND your brother happy.
And, of course, my soy-marinated pork tasted much better than my brother’s. He pretended that he couldn’t tell the difference, but we both knew mine tasted better. Thanks again for the recipe.
Well, I just prepared the marinade, and my brother screamed at me because of the sodium content in the “lite” soy sauce; consequently, he separated his tenderloin pieces from mine. We will grill in three hours and I will post the results later this evening. Thanks for the quick marinade recipe. Chef Wannabee
Commenting on my own post… I used this same marinade for steak the other night and it was superb!