Grilled Pork Chops Recipe with Lemon, Garlic, and Sage

This is a great tasting recipe, but look at those pitiful grill marks, barely even criss-crossed. (Kalyn hangs head in shame.) Just a reminder that sometimes, you just go with what you get when you're grilling. I may have been too anxious to cook and not waited long enough for the grill to get hot before I put the meat on, one of the secrets for nice grill marks. But I devoured the unmarked pork chops anyway, and really enjoyed them.

This recipe is a perfect way to use those thick lean boneless pork chops which tend to be dry if you cook them without marinating. (All you Costco shoppers know the ones I mean.) I trimmed all the fat and then pounded the heck out of the chops until they were about 1/2 inch thick. Then I marinated them about four hours in a marinade inspired by a recipe from one of my favorite grilling books, Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook. This is a book I pull out every summer and discover more recipes to try. (The book is so old you can buy used copies of Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook at Amazon.com for less than $10.00.) Their recipe had fried sage which some people would think is more trouble than it's worth, so I used rubbed sage from Penzeys. If you have sage in your garden though, fried sage would be perfect with this.

If you don't have an outdoor grill, this recipe can be cooked on a stove-top grill pan with ridges or a George Foreman Grill with good results.

Grilled Pork Chops with Lemon, Garlic, and Sage
(Makes 4 servings, recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma Complete Grilling Cookbook.)

4 thick boneless pork chops

2 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. rubbed sage (or use 2 tsp. finely chopped fresh sage)
2 tsp. garlic puree (pureed garlic, also called ground garlic)
2 tsp. dried shallots (I love the dried shallots from Penzeys for marinades, but you could use 1 T minced fresh shallots or 1 tsp. onion powder)
fresh ground pepper to taste, about 1/4 tsp.

Trim all fat around edges of pork chops, then put chops one at a time inside a thick ziploc bag and use meat mallet or something heavy to pound until they are about 1/2 inch thick. Combine all marinade ingredients in measuring cup. Put pork chops in large ziploc bag, pour marinade in and marinate in refrigerator 4-6 hours.

To cook, preheat charcoal or gas grill to high. (You can only hold your hand there for 1-2 seconds.) Put chops diagonally on grill and cook 4-5 minutes, then rotate pork chops and turn down heat to medium high. (I usually lift them up and check for grill marks to tell when to rotate.) Cook 4-5 minutes more, then check for grill marks and if they are browned to your liking, turn over and cook 3-5 minutes more on the second side. Cooking time will depend on the heat of your grill, but total time is probably less than 15 minutes. Pork chops are done when they feel firm, but not hard, to the touch and are well browned. Serve hot.

South Beach Suggestions:
Lean pork chops like this are perfect for any phase of the South Beach Diet. For phase one, eat it with something like Grilled Asparagus with Double Lemon and Parmesan and Mary's Perfect Salad. For phase two or three, you could add Brown and Wild Rice with Pine Nuts and Thyme.

More Pork Chops for the Grill:
Cuban Pork Chops Mojo
Grilled Lime and Chipotle Pork Chops
Grilled Ginger Soy Pork Chops

Things you might want to know:
You can get Kalyn's recipes by e-mail.
There's a great way to print recipes on Kalyn's Kitchen.
It's easy to find out who's hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week.
There are actual rules for Weekend Herb Blogging.
Here is another place where I write more about food.
There are some tasty offerings for food bloggers at the Blogher 2007 Conference.

Tags:
Food Recipes Cooking South Beach Diet Recipes
Low Carb Recipes Low Glycemic Index Recipes