Last week after vacationing in Charleston we came home to pretty much...empty cupboards. At first, I thought that this was NOT such a good thing since our taste buds had been spoiled with all of the fantastic food that we had during our stay. So since I just wasn't in the mood to leave the house again...especially to go grocery shopping...I was forced to get real resourcefulwith what I had on hand ;} OMG...we ended up liking this recipe so much that I had to make a double batch of chops just to get our fix!
Spicy Marinated Balsamic & Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops
Gather your ingredients: 
- 1-2 lbs. pork boneless pork chops
- 1 teaspoon dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon chopped, roasted garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 gallon-size ziploc bag or glass bowl w/lid
- Dash of grapeseed oil (or any oil that takes high tempertures like canola oil)
Clean and trim your pork chops and dry them with paper toweling. Then in a small bowl combine sage, salt, pepper, roasted garlic and olive oil.
Place the pork chops into a gallon-size ziploc bag or glass bowl and pour the marinade over the chops...squishing it all around in the bag to make sure all of the chops are well coated. Pop the bag into the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes...or while you are steaming some rice to go with your chops ;}
Next up: the glaze:
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons Asian chili-sauce with garlic like Sriracha sauce...
Add the cornstarch to the balsamic vinegar, water and soy sauce in a shaker container. Blend well and pour the contents into a sauce pot with the brown sugar and the Asian chili-sauce. Place the pot onto a medium-hot burner element and bring it to a slow boil.
Watch it well so that it doesn't boil over...then reduce the heat to low so that it simmers.
Add some grapeseed oil to a heavy skillet and pre-heat it to a medium-high...it's ready when it just begins to smoke...{I just love using my cast iron skillet for browning chops ;}
Quickly brown the chops on ALL sides...about 3 minutes per side...
Searing your chops in this manner keeps all of the juices inside of your chops and keeps them from drying out ;}
If you are lucky enough to have a "bacon press" then you can really get all the sides browned and yummy...hubby loves the fat all crispy. Just stand the chops right up on their backs...and press them down and listen for the sizzle ;}
In less than 15 minutes you have golden brown chops that are seared well on the outside and still moist on the inside. You can check them by either slicing into the middle to see if they are very pink or slightly pink...you want them slightly pink!
Now they are ready to be removed from the pan and set to ""rest" for at least 5 minutes where they will continue to cook. If you cut them too soon...they will "bleed" out...all the wonderful juices will run out and they will be dry when you go to eat them...very sad ;{
Too bad my snow peas were slightly freezer burnt...at least they tasted better than they looked...ha! So I added a big helping of white rice onto my plate and poured the glazed onto my rice, my chop and my snow peas.
Like I said earlier...this was so good that I had to make a second batch of chops before the week was out. You could also make this with a pork loin in the crock pot by adding all of the ingredients and about 1/2-cup of water or broth and then setting the crock pot on low for 6-7 hours. I can't wait to try this as an " asian pulled-pork" version...so simple and yummy!
Be sure to let me know if you try it and like it...you know like Mikey ;}
Fondly, Roberta
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