I grew up with a storybook, stay-at-home  mom., and to our family’s pleasure, mother’s  cooking and entertaining skills ascended to the level of an art form and definitely were her passion.

She planned and prepared 4-course dinners including handmade pastries and breads. Years later, guests at her table recall an elegant and delightful experience featuring delicious foods with eye-popping appeal.

Planning and setting a table with linens and sterling silver and bone China brought her joy.

She studied Gourmet magazine from first page to last, and she practiced a recipe in Gourmet until  the outcome matched the glorious food photos in the magazine.

I thought my life would follow in-step with mother’s until reality slammed my illusions.  I own a business, and true to all of you, I’m trying to shuffle a hundred things – business, fitness,  friends, family, food, fun and home.

Although like my mother, I  treasure moments  sharing good food with friends and neighbors and family,  and I appreciate fresh ingredients that look and taste marvelous.   I do  invite friends for appetizers, a wine or a glass of beer, a brunch, a one-pan dinner, a barbecue.

How do I tweak the time? Taking silver and linen out of the entertaining equation adds time for informal celebrations.

Adding Spicy Beer Mustard into the entertaining equation, elevates the food from ordinary to spectacular, simplifies prep. time and lifts my feelings from hectic to happy.

The whole point of cooking is to transform an ingredient into a better, more delicious version of itself. (Carla Lalli, www.Bonappetit.com)

Transform a pork chop from common to memorable with the addition of a Spicy Beer Mustard and orange marinade.   Thank you, Kim Kushner and www.thesplendidtable.com for the concept.

Ingredients

4 thick cut pork chops (1 ½ inches thick)

1 orange cut  in half

2 Tb. Spicy Beer Mustard

2 Tb. Balsamic vinegar

1 ½ Tb. extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. ground black pepper

Process

Squeeze the orange juice into a medium glass jar.  Pull out some of the juicy flesh from inside the orange and add to the jar.

Add mustard, vinegar, oil and seasonings.   Close the lid and shake until well combined.

Place the pork chops into a large lock-top plastic bag (2 chops per bag).  Divide the marinade equally and pour over the chops.  Seal the bags closed and swish the chops around in the bag to coat them with the marinade.

Marinadt in the refrigerator for 2 hours or ideally overnight and up to 48 hours.

Grilling Instruction

Attention, please. I like this recipe and through experience I recommend us to follow the instructions with care to achieve a  juicy, tender with melt-in-your mouth chop.

• Get out your meat thermometer.
• Heat a grill pan, a black iron skillet, or the charcoal/gas grill to white hot heat.
• Preheat the oven in your kitchen to 425 Degrees F
• Grill the pork chops, turning once for 4 minutes per side.  The grilling caramelizes sugars in the orange juice and honey in the Spicy Beer Mustard and deep brown and beautiful grill marks emerge.
• Pour the remaining marinade into a shallow  baking dish that fits the chops.  Place the chops in the marinade and if serving right away, cover with foil and bake in the oven to  145 Degrees.  We are talking only minutes (maybe 3) in the oven.
• Take the chops out of the oven at 145 Degrees internal temperature and allow to rest for 10 minutes or more.

Important:  for moist and succulent chops, do not over cook.

Options: The Grilled Pork Chop recipe offers flexible times for grilling and serving.

The pork chops in the marinade may be frozen for a month before thawed and grilled.

The chops may be covered and refrigerated in the marinade for several days before grilling

The chops may be grilled and then set aside in the refrigerator and finished in the oven later in the day or the next day.

Human-kind is united by love for appetizing food.

(The Tassajara Recipe Book, Edward Espe Brown)
 

We care about ingredients–all food!