Saturday, April 7, 2012

"Grilled" Pork Chops w/Green Beans and Rice

Such a Delicious Meal! by annbumbly
Pork Chops w/mushrooms, green beans & rice - YUM!
Such a delicious meal it was!
I was in Whole Foods and they had double thick bone-in pork chops on sale so I got two for our dinner. Took them home and told the hubs to fire up the charcoal grill. Shortly later, he came up to the kitchen to let me know that while we had LOADS of charcoal, we had no lighter fluid. Damn. I happened to be on the phone with cousin Julie and she reminded me that there IS another grilling method for meat that is just as tasty - sear in a hot iron skillet and then finish in a hot oven. I hadn't used that method in, well, forever, and had forgotten all about it. I will forget it NO MORE! What delicious pork chops we had!


pork chops
seasonings of your choice; I used Penzey's Arizona Dreaming mix and Southwest mix
salt & fresh-ground pepper to taste
olive oil
butter

1 box already sliced mushrooms
basmati rice
french-cut green beans (frozen this time)


Preheat oven to 425º. Start the rice, following package directions. Season the pork chops. Place iron skillet (any oven-proof skillet will do, but if you don't have an iron skillet, you really should treat yourself) on stove and turn heat to high. Add a swirl or two of olive oil to the skillet along with a pat or two of butter. When they just begin to smoke, add the pork chops and saute on each side till nicely browned. Transfer skillet to the oven and bake an additional 10 - 15 minutes, depending how thick your chops are, or, better yet, use a meat thermometer and remove from oven when internal temp. is around 140º (pork should be 145º, but they will continue to "cook" after removed from the oven). Once you've put the chops in the oven, cook the beans, either boiling in a bit of water, or steaming. When the chops come out of the oven, remove from the skillet and lightly tent them with a piece of foil. Return skillet to stove and add the sliced mushrooms. Stir and add more butter/oil if needed. Saute the mushrooms until golden and they're beginning to crisp around the edges. To serve, place a chop on each plate along with a serving of rice and green beans. Spoon the mushrooms, along with their juices over everything, just the chops, just the rice - however you want to plate it! 


~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again!
xoabb