Pork Loin (3) - Grilled Pork Loin Chops

If you recall I'm doing a series of posts on what I did with a pork loin bought on sale at a reasonably good price.  A pork loin can be stretched into several meals making it a rather frugal choice of meat.  At the same time pork loin is lower in fat that other cuts or pork making it a heart healthy choice.

I cut three 1 - inch thick slices from the pork loin to grill for dinner that night.  We like this thickness as it keeps the meat from drying out especially when grilling.  The end result is a nice, moist grilled pork loin.

One of these slices is enough meat for a serving.  We used each had one for dinner with one left-over for my husband's lunch the following day.  If you recall I am making his heavier meal for lunch so he can eat lighter at our regular dinner hour due to the temporary change in his normal schedule. 

I decided to marinate the pork loin chops for something a bit different.  The marinate was a simple olive oil and apple cider vinegar base with honey mustard and a couple of pinches of Herbs de Provence.  I let the chops marinate for 2 hours.  They could have been left longer to develop a bit more flavour but as it was the end result was quite good.

Marinades are a great way to spark up meats while tenderizing them.  Essentially a marinade is composed of three elements - acid, oil, flavour.  For this reason any home made vinaigrette will serve as a marinade.  Think out side of the box though.  The acid component can be vinegar, citric juice, buttermilk, fruit or tomato based.  Oil can be any vegetable oil of your choice but usually extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is used as it imparts flavour and is a healthier oil.  There are so many ways of getting flavour into a marinade ranging from various fruits and vegetables, herbs, seasonings, mustards and sweeteners so get creative!

The pork chops were grilled on medium direct heat on the outdoor grill.  I served them with steamed red potatoes, tomatoes and cucumber slices on a bed of green leaf lettuce and Old Fashioned Chili Sauce as a condiment.  It was a delicious, easy, low cost meal!

In hind sight,  chili sauce itself could have served as a marinade as well although it does make a better condiment.  It would be interesting to try using the chili sauce as a marinade as it does have a wonderful flavour that goes so nicely with pork.   I think I would blend it and add a bit of EVOO to use as a marinade.