Rosemary Peppered Pork Chops

I was shopping earlier this week and found a sale on pork loins, only $1.99/lb. That’s a price I had not seen in almost a year! The loins were very nice so I bought 3 of them. I like to find deals like this and stock up when I can. I like to slice them into nice thick chops; I’m talking 1 inch thick. To get them that thick in the store you will pay a premium price. I can cut them myself and get them for less than 1/2 the price they would go for in the shop.

Pork is nice because it will take a wet rub (thick like a paste) and flavor quickly, in as little as 2 hours. Not as fast as seafood (or expensive), but much faster than beef. One of my favorite wet rubs is one with rosemary, garlic, and lemon juice with some olive oil to hold it all together. Make this paste and smear it on the sides of the chops. To make the it do “double duty” I stack my chops like a sandwich, stacked 2 chops high with the rub in between. It keeps you from having to make so much to do all of the pork. Let them sit like this for 1 1/2 hours in the frig. Take them out 30 minutes before your going to grill to give the pork time to warm up before cooking.

You’ll need:

6 pork chops, cut 1 inch thick

5 gloves of garlic, peeled

2 Tbs whole black peppercorns

2 Tbs fresh rosemary leaves (I don’t recommend dried rosemary for this)

1/2 Tbs whole fennel seed

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

5-6 Tbs EVOO (olive oil)

Trim any excess fat. Using your knife, cut through remaining fat on edges of chops about every inch or so. This will keep them from curling on the grill. I usually trim the fat pretty well before this, so it’s not an issue. If you like a little more fat on the edge, definitely make the cuts.

In a food processor:

Combine remaining ingredients:

Process until garlic is well chopped and rosemary is in small pieces. It will be chunky. Using a spatula, smear the mixture on both sides of each chop, or stack them sandwich like (its what I do) to save time and rub.