Pork Chops a la Nicole

One day, probably about a month or so, my cousin Nicole sent me a message on Facebook asking for a recipe suggestion.  It felt a little bit like Chopped – she had a few ingredients she needed to use up for dinner, and wasn't sure what to do with all of them. Thankfully, unlike Chopped, the ingredients all fit together nicely (no pickled octopus or anything…).

Here's Nicole with her husband Adam and their adorable son Logan.

Nicole’s “basket” of items to work with was:

•         Pork chops
•         Pre-diced potatoes
•         Zucchini

She was leaning toward doing it all on the grill to work with, and was leaning toward doing it all on the grill.  Pork chops and the grill get along great, so that was no problem.  But what to do with pre-diced potatoes? I was thinking hash, and I figured the zucchini could fit in there just fine, too.  I suggested a marinade for the pork and a method for putting together the hash, and Nicole said it went great!

Now I could hardly suggest a recipe without then trying to make it myself, could I?  I made some changes based on Nicole’s feedback, what we had in our own pantry, and the weather being too gross to grill, and my end result made or a seriously tasty dinner.

Here's what you'll need:

Shopping list	Off the shelf (probably):
Pork chops Bacon Sweet potatoes (or regular, if that’s what you’re into) Zucchini A sweet onion	Olive oil White or cider vinegar Garlic or garlic powder Basil Oregano Thyme Mustard (grainy, preferably) Salt & pepper

Let’s cook!

Marinate that pork! It's not pretty, but the results are so good.

First, combine a bit of oil, vinegar, mustard, and lots of the spices into a nice marinade for the pork. It's best to let it marinate overnight, but if you're in a hurry an hour or two will do the trick.  Let it marinate in the fridge and come back when it's time to cook.

We’ll do our best to time things so that the pork is done and rested at more or less the same time as the hash. The hash will take 15-20 minutes to make from the time you start chopping, so we’ll start on that before we get the pork on the heat.

So close to making the Irish flag, and yet so far...

When you're ready to get started, peel and chop the sweet potatoes, and also chop the zucchini and sweet onion into small, bite-sized pieces.

Give the bacon a rough chop and get it rendering in a pan.  Take care not to overcook it - it'll go back into the pan with the rest of the hash later on.  When it's well rendered, but not yet crispy, pull it out and set it aside.

Drain off most of the excess grease, but leave a couple of tablespoons to sauté the diced sweet potatoes.  Cook them, stirring often, until they're starting to brown on the outside.  Try a bite - careful, they'll be hot - and when they're reasonably tender, it's time to add more stuff to the mix.

Add the zucchini, onion, and bacon, as well as a generous helping of the seasonings - basil, oregano, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper.  

A grill pan works fine when the weather inevitably disagrees with your cooking plans.

Now is also the time to cook the pork.  For thin chops like the ones I used, 2-3 minutes per side was plenty.  While you’re watching the pork, keep stirring the hash regularly until the zucchini and onion are nice and tender (but not too soft!), then taste and adjust the seasonings.  I added just a quick dash of vinegar in the last 30 seconds or so of cooking to brighten the flavors up, and it really helped a lot.

Let’s eat!

Serve your grilled chops atop a generous portion of hash, and be ready to offer seconds.

All together now!

Recipe: Pork Chops a la Nicole

Prep Time: 5 Minutes (+2-24 hour marinade) | Cook Time: 15-20 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 6 thin Pork Chops
• 4 medium Sweet Potatoes
• 4 medium Zucchini
• 1 large Sweet Onion
• 8 oz Bacon
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 3 tbsp Vinegar (white or cider)
• 3 tbsp grainy Mustard
• 2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Basil
• 1 tsp Oregano
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Combine olive oil, vinegar, mustard in a large resealable bag.  Add seasonings to taste.  Marinate pork minimum 2 hours (overnight is best!).
2. Peel sweet potatoes, then chop sweet potatoes, zucchini, and onion into bite-sized pieces.
3. Chop bacon down into bite-sized pieces (similar to the veggies). Render in a pan over medium heat until tender.  Set aside.
4. Drain away all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease.  Sauté sweet potatoes in the bacon grease until golden brown and tender.
5. Grill pork chops 2-3 minutes per side until done.  Rest under foil until ready to serve.
6. Add zucchini, onion, and bacon to the sautéing sweet potatoes. Season with garlic powder, thyme, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper, and continue to sauté until vegetables are tender (but not squishy!).
7. Optional: Add 1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar to hash in last minute of cooking and stir
8. Serve grilled chops hot atop a generous portion of hash.