Some of you may have read my rant several posts ago about the kind of pork we see in the mega marts. They showcase really lean cuts of pork with virtually no marbling sealed up in Cryovac packages, swimming in an “enhancing” solution of water, salt and sodium phosphates. As a matter of fact, I was at my local market just last week and I ended up buying one of these packages. I went to begin brining the tenderloin and I noticed that there was an “ingredients” text block on the package. So, no brining. I was disappointed because I like to brine myself, but the loin came out pretty tasty on the rotisserie (more on that later). Well these chops were all natural. I got them along with some other goodies from Niman Ranch.

Last month, I was fortunate to receive a pretty decent bonus. So, before my wife got all of my our bonus money, I went out and treated myself to a new toy.



Now anyone who reads my blog, knows that I love barbecue and I love grilling. But, sometimes, I just want to come home and throw a couple of brats on the grill, top them with sauerkraut, and call it dinner. Building a hot coal fire for such a small amount of food, to me, can be both a waste of fuel and effort. So I bought that beauty for the convenience. I also got the rotisserie rig for it too. Don’t get me wrong, I am still true to my smoker and I love the way wood makes food taste, but a good grill flavor can be had on a gas grill with controlled flare-ups and a nice char.

So now my deck cooking space is almost complete. I will be adding a pellet smoker for cold smoking. Can you see homemade smoked bacon in my future? Maybe some smoked sausages! Yes…YES!!!

So for the first meal on this Cadillac of a grill I chose two really well marbled rib chops. I brined them in a quick solution of salt, sugar, rosemary, thyme, white, black, and red peppercorns.

For a side dish, I had to figure out a way to get quinoa, the super grain, into the mix. I was wandering the local Whole Paychex, as I often do, and I found this red quinoa.



I didn’t notice much of a flavor difference in the red quinoa versus the blanco, but I did notice that the texture was somewhat different. The grains didn’t adhere to each other as much; in fact they remained mostly separate. This was was actually good, since I was making a kind of pilaf.

To the quinoa, I added, chopped red onion, smoked mozzarella, fresh lady peas, and quartered cherry tomatoes. And this was good.



After the chops were brined, 3 hours, I patted them dry, cracked some pepper on them and tossed them on my new grill. I took care to get the aesthetically pleasing grill marks. While they were grilling, I whipped up the garlic lime sauce.

No words were spoken while we ate.

I have to say, that I love my new grill. It gets very, I mean very hot. I turned it on high to preheat it and it got up over 600 degrees-f! I’m thinking pizza on this baby sometime soon.

Follow up:

Pork Chops:

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup fine salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp ea red, while, black, peppercorns
1 tsp each dried rosemary and thyme
Fresh ground pepper
4 bone-in rib chops

Quinoa:

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup Inca red quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
4 oz smoked mozzarella chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small red onion finely chopped
1 cup cooked lady peas
~cup cherry tomatoes quartered
1 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
S&P
chopped cilantro for garnish

Garlic Lime Sauce:

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 garlic clove minced
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

METHOD:

1. In a large sauce pan, bring all ingredients, except the chops, to a boil. Stir until sugar and salt dissolves. Fill a large container halfway with ice. Add salt mixture. Allow to cool, about 10 minutes. When brine is cool, submerge chops. Cover container and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.

2. In a large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. Add quinoa. Cover, lower heat to simmer, and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender, but not mushy. Keep warm.

3. Preheat grill to high heat. Remove chops from brine and discard brine. Rinse chops thoroughly under cold water and pat dry. Sprinkle chops liberally with fresh ground pepper. On a folded paper towel, pour a small amount of olive oil. Using tongs, apply the oil onto the grill grates. Place chops on the grill. They will sizzle and you may get some small flare-ups, this is fine. Let chops cook for about 2 minute then give the chops a quarter turn. Let cook for about 3 minutes more then flip and repeat. Remove chops when they are medium-rare to medium. I cook mine to a temperature of 140 degrees-f. They as a little pink. No worries when you are eating good pork.

4. In a mixing bowl, add the quinoa, onions, tomatoes, and lady peas. Toss gently. Add remaining ingredients except the cilantro and toss lightly to combine.

5. For the sauce: whisk together lime juice, garlic, red-pepper flakes, and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then add oil in a slow stream. Add cilantro and whisk to combine. Serve over chops.