So, yesterday, I shared my new take on buttermilk marinade; “Beertermilk.”
Today, I will take you through turning your nicely marinated chops (or chicken, chicken will work, too) into a fine, kinda fancy, company-worthy even dinner with not too, too much fuss.
Ermmm, especially if your husband does the grilling and you can deal with the sauce and the salad and the company and such. Oh, and the wine…
To start with, the original recipe called for simply seasoning and breading the chops and popping ’em in the oven.
OK, but kinda basic.
So, I marinated the chops, then added a topping (too thick to really be called a sauce) made up of couple of cans of quartered 
artichoke hearts, some sliced hot pickled cherry peppers, freshly sliced ‘shrooms, grated cheese (more on that later), and seasonings.
Nice!
INGREDIENTS
•For 2 to 5 thick cut, bone-in pork chops
•2 cans artichoke heart quarters, drained
•8 oz sliced ’Shrooms
•9 or 10 sliced hot cherry peppers*
•2 tbsp cherry peppers juice from the jar
•Minced fresh parsley
•1 tbsp olive oil
•1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
•2 tsp Sherry Peppers Sauce
•1 tbsp Parmesan cheese
*Look in the Italian Specialty Foods section of your market, or check out a good local Italian Deli.
No Sherry Peppers Sauce? No worries! Just add a bit of good sherryand mebbe a dash or three (to suit your taste) of your fave hot sauce.
Remove the chops from their marinade about an hour before you plan on grilling and allow them to come to room temperature.
Heat your grill to medium, then grill the chops for ten minutes per side, until an meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chops reads 145º to 150º.
Remove from the grill and place on a platter. Cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest for ten minutes or so while you prepare the topping.
Toss the artichoke hearts with the sliced ‘shrooms, cherry pepper slices, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, juice from the cherry pepper jar, and Sherry Peppers Sauce.
Cook over medium high heat until the ‘shrooms and artichokes are slightly browned, and most of the cooking liquids have been reduced.
A note on the cheese: I came across this kinda cool (well, I think it is) blend at Trader Joe’s, which includes Cheddar into the more usual shaved cheese mix.
Tasty.
Sprinkle the cheese over the cooked artichokes and ‘shrooms and toss until the cheese is melted and you have a thick topping for your chops.
Give it a taste and go ahead and add a bit of salt and freshly ground peppers, if you think it needs it.
I didn’t, but next time plan on passing fresh lemon slices and additional chopped parsley for over the top.
We enjoyed ours with a bit of garlic and cheese bread, asparagus and feta salad, and grilled sweet potatoes with sweet onion and melted cheese.
Details on the salad and the potatoes to come, next week, I think. Tomorrow, we’re gonna turn the leftover chops and bones in a most excellent stock for risotto.