Pork Chops

I heard that allowing meat to marinate in a brine hours before cooking makes the meat juicier when cooked. Why? I really do not know. You'll have to ask Alton Brown or these people. I used this website as a guide for my first experience with brining meat. I cooked pork chops the other day and they were juicy and flavorful. I created a glaze to brush on top for an extra punch. I'm going to investigate more about brining, until then try it out!

Need for Brine

4-6 1 inch thick boneless pork chops
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken stock
2 cups ice
3 T. brown sugar
1/4 c. sea salt
2 cap fulls of apple cider vinegar
1 t. Peppercorns
Olive Oil

Need for Glaze

Juice of one orange
1/4 c. maple syrup
Pepper
Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Prepare

1. On medium heat combine the chicken stock, brown sugar, salt, peppercorns, bay leaves, and vinegar in a large stock pot.
2. Once everything is dissolved, remove from heat and add the 2 cups of ice.
3. When the mixture is cool (which should be quickly) add the pork chops.
4. Refrigerate from 2-24 hours. I was short on time, so I had the pork chops in the mixture for 4 hours.


5. When you're ready to cook, heat a small amount of olive oil in a stove top pan.
6. Remove the pork chops from the stock pot and pat them dry with a paper towel.
7. When the oil is hot, transfer the pork chops to the pan.
8. To make the glaze, simply combine all the glaze ingredients in a small dish. Add a dash of pepper.
9. Brush the top layer of the pork with the glaze. Continue to brush the glaze on the pork chops often as they cook.


10. Cook the pork chops on medium to medium high heat for approximately 7 minutes each side.
11. Brush the pork chops with the glaze one last time before serving.

I served my pork chops with roasted asparagus and broccoli.

Pulled Pork

Most of us probably do not own a smoker or have a device where we can allow pounds of meat to slowly cook and smoke all day. Most of us do probably have a crock pot. Pork is my favorite thing to cook in the crock pot. If you eat pulled pork, then I recommend making it in your crock pot. It stays moist and has a lot of flavor! This recipe completes the meal for the southern BBQ dinner we enjoyed. All that was missing was a sweat tea.

Need

3-4lb pork butt
1 onion quartered.
1 tbspn cumin
1 tbspn chili powder
1 tbspn salt
1 tbspn pepper
2-3 gloves garlic halved
1/2 can of chipotle peppers (make sure no sugar or wheat is added)
1/4 c. spicy brown mustard
1 tspn apple cider vinegar
1 c. broth (chicken or beef)

Prepare

1. Mix together the spices (cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper) to create a seasoning rub.
2. Using your hands, rub the seasoning over the entire pork roast.
3. Take a knife and create slits throughout the meat. Add the half pieces of garlic throughout the meat. Make the slits deep enough so that the entire garlic piece can fit.
4. Add the quartered onion to the bottom of the crock pot.
5. Put the meat in the pot fat side down.
6. Whisk together the chipotle peppers and mustard. If you like spice, use the entire can of chipotle and increase your mustard ratio.
7. Add this mixture to the top of the meat covering the top and sides.


8. Pour the stock and vinegar around the meat.
9. Set the crock pot for 8-10 hours.

I would prefer to enjoy the meat with a side of barbeque sauce, but barbeque sauce usually has some kind of brown sugar or high fructose corn syrup added to it. Occasionally I do eat it with sauce and it's awesome. Tonight Ben opted for some hot sauce. It was moist, favorable, and delicious!