I had fun with some pork chops the other day. There is nothing groundbreaking in the recipe but this did serve as a great lesson in using my grill pan.
I started out with four boneless pork chops that were a little under an inch thick. I let the chops brine for about an hour. I wanted to let them soak for four to six hours but I just didn’t have the time. I dried the chops off, gave them a light coat of mustard and a good dusting of Stubb’s BBQ rub. I am a big fan of using a light mustard coating on pork. Mustard and pork are a great combination and the mustard layer really helps the rub adhere to the meat. The mustard flavor in the end product is actually much more subdued than you would expect.
Boneless chops destined for the grill pan.
Painted with some mustard…..
Into the pan!
I pre-heated my cast iron grill pan for five minutes over medium heat. I was able to fit all four chops into the pan without them touching and I let them grill undisturbed for seven minutes. After seven minutes I flipped them over and, “ta-da”, they looked pretty dang boring. They had a few grill marks on them but absolutely nothing to brag about.
Not exactly what I had in mind!
I wanted to make sure I had some great grill marks so I brought out my foil covered brick and placed it across the chops. As soon as the brick went on you could hear the chops really start to sizzle.
When all else fails, break out the brick!
I wasn’t overly concerned about the chops drying out while they were being pressed since they were pretty thick and had been brined a little. After three and a half minutes I rotated the brick 45 degrees to make sure all four chops got pressed evenly and grilled another three and a half minutes. After seven total minutes of pressed grilling I flipped the chops over and had perfection! Check out those grills marks; they made me very happy! The difference between pressed and non-pressed was night and day.
That’s more like it!
I served these up with a little steamed broccoli and a side of rice. Leftovers were enjoyed the next day in the form of pork tacos.
The chops did end up a little overcooked. I suspect this is because I did not get to brine them as long as I wanted, fourteen minutes of grilling was a little too long, and that pressing the chops multiplied the effects of the first two issues. This was a great learning experience for me; I’ll fix my mistakes next time. Just to be consistent and on theme here; a grill pan is a great way to cook a lean protein like boneless pork chops. There was almost no smoke and cleaning up the pan was a snap