You know the sounds; you know the smells. The sun warms the grass; the days are longer; the air is light and sweet and what's that other smell? That's right: the smell of spice and flame-kissed meat. We would have actually fired up the grill much earlier this year, had it not been for the rather cold and wet May we experienced. Luckily, things started warming up recently and we could finally unfurl the cover on our Weber Q and start the gas. Yes, we have a gas grill. It is illegal in our city/county to use a charcoal grill in a multi-family building. Technically, we should actually be using a much smaller gas tank than what we have, BUT since no one can see it... Anyway, enough about the technicalities. Marshall and I have been learning to grill and mostly rely on well-written recipes with explicit grilling instructions. For a wedding gift, we got a probe thermometer, which has helped us rely on the meat and not the recipe to tell us when its done. But, we have been learning fast and been more adventurous with our grill.
One stand-by recipe we have turned to over the last couple of years comes from, where else,
Gourmet magazine. The July 2007 issue was the all-grill issue. This same issue taught us how to grill a Caesar salad, too! Our inaugural grilling dish for this year was Grilled Giant Pork Chops with Adobo Paste. I grew up in a house that didn't do much pork. My dad was never a fan, so my mom tended to steer clear of it for everyday meals. I've learned, though, that pork can be quite tasty and it's a great lean protein, too, like chicken. The first time I made this dish, I fell in love with the adobo paste. It's a simple mixture of spices, oil and lime juice, but the smell that arises from the paste is heavenly. It's smoky, spicy and tangy, without being clawing. I really makes your mouth water, just from the smell. One thing I have done differently is I go with the thinner bone-in pork chops and not the giant pork chops. We did the giant pork chops the first time and they're huge. They're much bigger than either of us could eat on our own. I don't change the amount of paste I make, which might be more paste than what I SHOULD use, but we love it anyway.
To go with these delectable chops, I went with a salad. It was a green salad, but I wanted to do something complimentary to the pork. My sister makes a cilantro-lime dressing which is really good. I had planned to mimic this and make my own, but I ran out of time to make an actual dressing. Instead, I made a salad with green leave lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, and white corn. Then I loosely chopped some fresh cilantro and threw it into the bowl. I dressed the salad with cracked black pepper, kosher salt, garlic powder, a few dashes of chili powder, fresh lime juice and olive oil. It was surprisingly good and refreshing and definitely complimentary with the chops.
Finally, I wanted a starch. I'm a total starch fiend. I love my bread, pasta, corn and potatoes. I think it comes from being in an Italian family. Even with pasta, we always had bread at the table. With just the two of us, Marshall and I haven't kept this with our meals. We also agreed that we are more apt to fill up on bread before eating the actual meal. Anyway, I went with potato for a starch, but I was at a loss to how to prepare it. Then I got an idea: grill them! So, I took a couple of potatoes, rinsed them, then sliced them into 1/2-3/4" rounds. I left the skins on because the skin of the potato is the best part, in my opinion. I drizzled the slices with a little olive oil and sprinkled them with kosher salt and pepper. I put them on the grill after finishing the chops and cooked them, flipping over a few times, until grill marks appeared and they were tender to the touch. The result was fantastic. I loved the crisped exteriors and the creamy insides. Plus, the really browned, almost burnt, bits were so incredibly yummy. I really liked this cooking method for potatoes and I'll definitely find another excuse to make them again! Maybe next time, I'll sprinkle of a little cayenne to spice them up...
So, join the party and fire up that grill (and be safe)!
Grilled Giant Pork Chops with Adobo Paste
Serves 4
2-1/2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Sweet Paprika
1-1/2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano, crumbled
1 Tablespoons Garlic, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
1-1/2 teaspoons of Red Pepper Flakes
1-1/2 teaspoons Lime Zest
1-1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoons Black Pepper
4 Bone-in Loin Pork chops
1a.
(For charcoal grills) Prepare the grill for direct-heat-cooking over medium-hot coals.
1b.
(For gas grills) Preheat all burners on high, covered, for 10 minutes.
2. Stir together all ingredients, except the pork chops, in a bowl to form a spice paste, then rub paste all over pork chops.
3a.
(For charcoal grills) Oil grill rack, then grill chops over coals, turning over occasionally and moving if flare-ups occur, until browned, 2-3 minutes total. Move chops to area with no coals underneath, then cover with inverted roasting pan (disposable is OK) and grill, turning chops over once, until thermometer inserted horizontally into the center of a chop (do not touch bone) registers 145F, about 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chop.
3b.
(For gas grills) Reduce heat to moderately high and brown chops, covered, turning over occasionally, 2-3 minutes total. Turn off one burner (middle one if there are 3 burners) and put chops above the shut-off burner, then grill, covered, without turning, until thermometer registers 145F, about 12-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chop.
4. Transfer to a platter and let stand 5 minutes before serving.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this chicken as much as I did. For one thing, the spice mixture contains a good deal of coriander, which my body does not like. My stomach actually turns at the smell of coriander. I can take it in small doses, but anything with a strong coriander flavor or contains whole coriander seeds, I cannot eat without feeling sick. I never cooked much with coriander before, but I remember my mom went through this kick. She and my dad found this restaurant down the street from them, which is no longer there, called Asian Fusion. Essentially, it was a restaurant that infused all sorts of Asian cuisines onto one menu. They had a little Chinese, a little Vietnamese, a little bit of Indian, all rolled into one. They had a side dish simply called "Coriander Rice". It was regular white steamed rice, but they threw in a bunch of whole coriander seeds into the rice cooker. This infused the rice, so you could have a "scented" rice with your main dish. My mom was all over this. She even learned to make it at home. She served it with everything for a while, it seemed, and I just couldn't stomach it at all. It wasn't the flavor, but more the aroma which just didn't agree with me. Luckily, this chicken wasn't very CORIANDER-y, but it had an underlying flavor of that spice. Most of the coriander was in the spice rub, which was cooked with the chicken in such a way that it could be scraped off. Now, I don't like admitting when I'm a picky eater, but I just had to do this a few times with my chicken. This being said, though, it really was some awesome grilled chicken. Having the breast with the skin and bone-in locked in all the juices and the meat remained tender and extremely juicy. The rub penetrated the meat, so the flavor went past the surface and into the entire piece of chicken.
