Charred Rosemary Pork Chops

Hello World !

It feels good to finally put my feet up and kind of relax. Actually I have some work to get done tonight before I call it a day. It has been very busy today. I ran errands with the girl but forgot to plan her lunch before she was picked up for school by a friend. I stopped at the store and picked up a lunchable for her to eat as I shopped for some groceries. What a terrible mother I am...hey better than McDonalds right ???

I then had to meet my friend to pick up the girl for school, race over to see my bestest buddy Stacey for Thai food yum ! yum ! Then off to the dentist, back home to sew more aroma therapy bags, 3 loads of laundry, mop the floors and whip up this amazing dinner.

So another happy place for me is the kitchen. I love love love to cook. The kids helped with other chores while I cooked. Here is the recipe for you to try out. Quick meal with some prep work  but can be done in steps and up to a day ahead.

I served this up with mashed potatoes and green beans stirred in with almonds.

To start with :

Pork Chops

Ingredients

• pork chops 
• 4 T granulated sugar
• 1 T garlic, minced 
• 3 Serrano chilies, minced 
• 2 T rosemary, chopped 
• 3 T parsley, chopped 
• 1½  oz. olive oil 
• 1 T kosher salt
• 2 tsp. black pepper

Directions

Place pork chops in a large bowl and reserve. In a blender add sugar,garlic, chilies, rosemary, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper; macerate until smooth. I also added 2 T of chipolte pepper spice . (Can be found in spice aisle next to chilli seasoning ) Just thought I woud experiment a little. 

Rub pork chops generously with mixture and let stand for 20 minutes if possible.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grill pork chops over an open flame or sauté, to medium-rare. Be careful not to over-caramelize (the sugar in the rub will burn if left on the fire too long). Once a golden color is achieved transfer to the oven and roast until internal temperatures reaches 125°F. Let rest 3 minutes before serving.

I scooped some mashed potatoes on the bottom of a deep plate. Top with Pork chop and add green beans for some color and drizzle sauce. 

For Sauce :

2 T parsley, chopped 

• 1 T oregano
• 1 T thyme
• 1 tsp. red chili flake
• 6 T extra virgin olive oil
• 2 T aged sherry vinegar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• ½ tsp. black pepper

Directions

In a mixing bowl add parsley, oregano, thyme, chili, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Whisk and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

Not sure I like the sauce very much but hubby did so that is all that matters. We cracked open a special bottle of South African wine from the 2010 World Cup collection... A romantic dinner for two in the middle of the week. He may even score tonight once again LOL ! To top it off we had some wonderful South African chocolate aaahhh !!! what more can a lady ask for ..a backrub ??? Maybe I will be lucky.

Remember the key ingredient to cooking. You can never run out of it and it can be found in your HEART , it is " LOVE " 

I have very fond memories from my childhood days cooking with my mom. She always said that if you cooked with love , no matter what you make it will always taste mmhhmmmhhh GOOOOOOOODDDDD!!!!!

So my secret ingredient is " LOVE " 

Hope you give this a try.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you had a productive day and your TO DO LIST has a ton of strike offs like mine does. Let's face it ...we will never get to the bottom of it as we keep adding stuff to it.

Free Spirit XOXOXOX !!!!!