Ok, I had to look up the recipe once I got home (it had been a while since I’d made this one). This is one of those “quick and easy” ones, and here it is:
4 pork chops
3 Tablespoons apricot preserves
1 Tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon cider vinegar (balsamic is yummy, too)
1/2 dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend apricot preserves, ketchup and vinegar.
Rub the pork with salt, pepper and thyme. Cook about 5 minutes, then brush with glaze. Turn and cook 3 minutes more, brush with glaze again. Continue to cook until glaze is bubbly and meat is done to your satisfaction.
I usually go with a mix of soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, and honey or brown sugar. My rule is something with a bit of salt, something with a bit of sweet, and something with a bit of acid and I switch up based on that.
The only way I like pork is when they’re glazed with Ah-So sauce. Around here that can be found at Market Basket/Demoulas, Shaws and Hannaford. After reading the wiki article on it, I’m unsure if you can buy it outside the Northeast. It seems to be offered from many online retailers, however, if you google it.
You’ve probably finished dinner already, but next time, I have a recipe for whiskey-glazed pork chops that’s pretty fantastic. Serve with smashed potatoes and barely-wilted mustard greens with garlic and lemon. Mmm.
Try a dry marinade of a teaspoon each of thyme and allspice, with a little black pepper and salt. I sometimes sprinkle this on (both sides) before I freeze the chops.
Not pok chops, but for those big boneless ‘country pork ribs’ I use mole (red chili) powder, cumin, garlic salt, crushed garlic, black pepper, lime juice, and whatever else looks like it might be good. I marinate them for at least a half-hour, though I’m more likely to marinate them overnight, before cooking them over charcoal.
Also worth noting is that Goya sells Mojo. So if you have any Cuban or Mexican grocery stores, or an ethnic section in your supermarket, you should look around for it. The bottle looks llike this, and is about the size of a wine bottle. They also have a chipotle version, and they sell a sour orange juice marinade (which, if you’re making mojo from scratch, you use instead of the orange juice & lime. The orange juice & lime are there to mimic the taste of sour/bitter orange, naranja agria, which is a little hard to come by in most places.).
silenus, I used your recipe last night, but added some extra brown sugar and honey to balance out the salt. I realized I didn’t really know how to cook it after I marinated it, so I just poured everything into a big ol’ pyrex thing and baked it. Came out pretty good, I thought, but I think next time I’ll do without the soy sauce-- my dinner companion found it salty, but liked the flavor. I think it had to do with the hoisin sauce I got, which was pretty salty by itself.
Wonder if pineapple juice would be a good addition/substitute? I just don’t know if it would mix well with the bourbon…
Great recipes, everyone! I hate using the same ones over & over all the time, so thanks for making my arsenal a lot bigger
In Julia and Jacque Cooking at Home, Ms. Child and Mr. Pepin presented a dry rub for pork that we’ve really, really enjoyed on pork chops (we rub it on the chops about half an hour before grilling):
Spices to add in equal amounts (1 tsp or 1 tbsp): ground bay leaf, cloves, mace, nutmeg, paprika, thyme
Spices to add in equal amounts (1/2 tsp or 1/2 tbsp): allspice, cinnamon, savory
Spice in double amount (2 tsp or 2 tbsp): ground white pepper
It sounds like a lot of spices, and I suppose it is, but it’s super-easy to make and results in chops with a lot of complex flavor.
Pineapple juice would probably go well in the mix, especially if you use rum instead of bourbon. I’ve never found it to be too salty, so you may be right about the hoisin. Glad you liked it. It’s an infinitely adaptable little marinade. Try different spirits for variation.
I’ve been getting a little tropical, lately. I took my handmade sweet/hot pork sauce, and I added a half-cup of pineapple tidbits, undrained. So, it’s sweet & sour. Here’s a quick summary. I make it for two, but you can expand it.
2 pieces of pork loin, 1 inch thick, approx.
1/2 inch thick slice of a big onion, coarsely chopped.
1 third of a green bell pepper, chopped
1 inch of fresh ginger root, not peeled, chopped.
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup pineapple “tidbits” (little pieces), undrained.
Extra virgin olive oil (aw, what the heck, use the promiscuous olive oil!)
Red hot sauce, e.g. Cholula or Frank’s.
The sauce just won’t work in a non-stick pan. You need the brown stuff that sticks to the pan.
Salt and black-pepper both sides of the meat, then saute in olive oil, over med-hot until nicely brown. Add more oil, turn over the meat, turn heat to med. Throw in the onion and green pepper.
Saute along with the pork. When the pork is 140 deg. F, set it aside, covered. Add the ginger and garlic, and cook for 1-2 min. Add the pineapple, and splash in a few ounces of white wine or water, and a few squirts of hot sauce.
Boil at med-high, stirring to scrape up the yumbrown stuff from the pan. Occasionally, pour some sauce from a spoon. When it’s as thick as you want it, it’s done. Serve the pork with the sauce poured on top.
I think there should have been some brown sugar in there, but I’ll leave that up to you. Have fun!
