We were at the market, and Rich was perusing the butcher’s case. He came across these lovely thick cut, bone in pork chops and asked me about having a couple for dinner. We were a couple of days away from leaving on vacation, and I had some Greek yogurt in the fridge and an idea I wanted to try out, so I said “Sure!”
Turns out it was a very good call.
We had planned on grilling these, but the weather turned gray and cold, so…
the oven it was. I should note that these came out totally fine in the oven, but can only imaging how much better they would’ve been on the grill.
INGREDIENTS
•1/2 to 3/4 cup plain yogurt
•1 tsp curry powder
•1 tsp chili powder
•2 tbsp Spicy Honey Mustard*
•3 cloves garlic, chopped finely
•1/4 cup diced onion
•2 thick cut bone in pork chops
*Stir together 1/4 cup each honey, yellow mustard, and a nice, spicy Dijon mustard until well blended. A half teaspoon of Allepo pepper, if you have any, is nice in this.
Place the onion, garlic, curry powder, and mustard in a food processor fitted with the metal blade and pulse until well chopped.
Note: I used my mini food processor because there were only two chops and so not that much marinade needed. Feel free to double (or triple) the marinade amounts and go ahead and use your big boy processor.
Add the yogurt, cover, and pulse until nicely blended.
Place the chops in a gallon sized zipper bag and scoop the marinade in on top – it’ll be quite thick, so pouring won’t really be an option. Close the bag, squeezing out any excess air, and push and prod to coat all sides of the chops with the marinade.
Place flat on a rimmed plate (for to catch any drippage) and pop into the fridge for four hours, flipping the chops and giving ’em a nice squeeze after two hours.
About an hour before you plan on cooking them, pull the chops from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
Heat your oven to 350º, or prepare your grill as you would for chops.
Note: Rich is the griller here, so all I can say is use your own judgement, oil the gill grates well, and follow your own experience for grilling thick pork chops.
To do them in the oven, line a rimmed baking pan with heavy duty foil, and apply a bit of cooking spray.
Remove the chops from the marinade, place on the baking pan and bake for about 15 minutes, then flip ’em over and bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and set aside to rest for ten minutes or so before serving.
Moist, tender, and very flavorful chops; with a minimum of fuss.
I like that in a pork chop!