Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops and Beans

This was a tasty supper we had this summer that also was not photographed, but I modified it enough to warrant its appearance on the blog.  The tender, smoky pork chops went well with the crispy bacon and sweet pinto beans.  This will definitely be showing up repeatedly on the summer menu.

Smoky Bacon-Wrapped Pork Chops and Beans

(modified from a recipe in the June 2010 BH&G magazine)

4 boneless loin pork chops about  1 inch thick

4 slices bacon

4 green onions, sliced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 16-oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 c ketchup

1 t yellow mustard

1 T brown sugar

1.  Brine the pork chops for 4-6 hours (see brining instructions following recipe).  Remove the pork chops from the brine, rinse and pat dry.  Season with pepper.  Wrap one slice of bacon around each chop and secure with a wooden toothpick.

2.  I have an infrared gas grill so that is what the grilling instruction is based on.  Thirty minutes prior to grilling soak wood chips (I used hickory) in water.  Heat the grill to high.  Add the wood chips directly to the trough in the grill.  Reduce the grill heat to medium and place the pork chops on the grill.  Cover and grill 20-25 mins or until the pork is slightly pink in the center and the juices run clear,  turning once halfway through cooking.

3.  Meanwhile, place a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add 1 teaspoon of oil and the onions.  Cook for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes, beans, ketchup, mustard, brown sugar and 2 T water to the saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer until the pork chops are done.  Serve with pork.

To brine the pork chops, add 1/4 c brown sugar and 1/4 c salt to a large bowl.  Pour 2 c of boiling water and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved.  Add 3 c of ice cubes to the brining solution and stir to dissolve.  You may have pieces of ice floating in the bowl, but the point is to make sure the solution is cold and won’t “cook” your chops.  Add the pork chops, cover and refrigerate until 30 minutes before grilling time.

Fiery Chicken Cheeseburgers with Soothing Ranch Sauce

My favorite season is winter, but I enjoy the warmer temperatures of spring that allow us to finally eat outside. At least for a few weeks before summer hits us here in Utah. Spring is way too short here in my opinion- which is an odd comment coming from someone who moved to Utah from a two season climate. Anyway, moving on…I love to eat outside. Grilling and outdoor eating/dining go hand in hand. The warmer temperatures a few weeks ago gave me the opportunity to make these chicken burgers.

I cut this recipe out of the monthly magazine/advertisement flyer that one of our local grocery stores produces.  I love burgers and these sounded like an interesting variation.  The only thing I didn’t really like was the ranch sauce.  It just tasted like regular ranch to me.  I guess I was expecting something a little more spectacular.  Maybe the celery salt would have made it better, but I didn’t have any and didn’t feel like making a trip to the store just for that one ingredient.  I’ll have to play around with the sauce next time to see if I can make up something better.

Because my husband strongly dislikes spicy food, I don’t know that the burgers I made could be described as “fiery.”  More like smoldering. 😛  Despite my efforts to tone down the spice in the burger, he still said it was too spicy and that it was burning his lips.  I, on the other hand, could barely detect any heat.  Next time, I’ll just make his burgers plain and make mine as spicy as I like.

Hula Shrimp

It seems like anything that includes pineapple is considered Hawaiian. I suppose if you asked someone on the street what fruit they think of if you mention Hawaii, pineapple would be up there. I’m not sure what I would say. Probably something like papaya or guava because that’s mostly what I eat when I’m there. Anyway…

I’m not positive as to why this is called Hula Shrimp other than the fact that hula is a form of Hawaiian dance and pineapples are associated with Hawaii. Whatever you want to call it, it’s good. At least I enjoyed it. I added a jalapeno (my first jalapeno from my garden no less 🙂 ) to add a bit of a spicy kick. The proscuitto lends a nice salty flavor. Bites that included everything- shrimp, pineapple “salsa” and hot rice- were the best in my opinion. I’m not very poetic, but it was a wonderful blend of tastes and textures. Sweet, spicy, slightly sour, salty, cold, hot. Mmmmm…