Brown Sugar Cayenne Pork Chops

Brown Sugar Cayenne Pork Chops

I've never seen men get so excited over four little words. PORK!! I say Bacon and the men in my house practically run me over to get to the kitchen. In fact, one family BBQ, we were having burgers. I surprised the families with bacon on the Fixings Bar. Two pounds of extra thick sliced bacon for twelve hamburgers. I think one little boy ate an entire pound. (Sorry to his mother who was not present) I had one of the dads even ask if I could cook up more bacon! 

Bacon and any sort of pork sausage product is an easy win. Ribs, are a definitely a winner. But pork chops...they can be ho hum. Sorry Pork! But they are just boring!

Now I have prepared them just about every way, chicken fry with gravy, breaded with bread crumbs, smothered with onions and bell peppers, slow cooked with a mushroom sauce, brined, grilled and even bbq'ed! (all these are another blog entirely)

I love marinating meats. But there is an art to it. You don't want to over do it. If you add too much acidity and leave it too long you can in a sense cook the meat and end up with a tough piece of meat. And that's not the purpose of marinating. Usually it's to tenderize a cheap cut of meat and to inject flavor. 

Now I had every intention of BBQ’ing these chops after they marinated. Spring days like today beg for BBQ’ing. And these chops are begging for a little oak smoke. Just careful not to overcook them. Pork chops are not forgiving. Overcook it and you will end up with thick meat you can hardly chew through. Mine never made it to the BBQ. I’m afraid The Fireman and I lounged outside a little too long and fell asleep. Sad but true. It was faster for me to toss them in a pan then it would be to wait to the Grill Master to get the grill ready.

Brown Sugar Cayenne Pork Chops

2 Cloves of Garlic minced
4 TB Canola Oil
2 TB Brown Sugar
2 TB Kosher Salt
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
½ tsp fresh ground Pepper
½ tsp Cayenne Pepper

4 Pork Chops (I only had three-I don’t like leftovers and the Butcher didn’t have a special on bone in chops so mine are thick Lion Chops)

In a bowl mix all the ingredients (except the pork chops) into a paste. Place the chops on a tray and cover chops with paste on both side. Cover and refrigerate up to 3 hours.

Grill or cook over Medium high heat five minutes each side. Cover and cook for an addition 5 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness.