It was the best trade we've made in a long time— the use of the Rover for a grocery bag of kick-ass beef and pork from a butcher in Hudson. What's even more impressive is Eric handed over the bag of meat despite being stopped by our friendly Wisconsin State Patrol officer for going a little too fast, in a car that didn't belong to him with expired tabs. It appears that attention to detail is important when a person, who shall remain nameless, buys and affixes tabs to a car. Evidently, it's easy to get distracted and put them on the wrong car. Nothing like a little Dougherty chaos to make a person thankful for their orderly life full of clean laundry, peaceful dinners and current tabs (on the proper cars).
We ate the beef first, it was a fine-looking pile of beautifully marbled steaks, and saved the pork for another night— further proof that Dougherty's are capable of restraint. Eric's last words as he left that night were, 'treat those chops well and don't share them with the kids'. I succeeded on both counts— the marinade was perfect, lots of mustard and garlic, and the kids ate prime rib. Another successful Dougherty dinner.
Grilled Dijon Pork Chops
2 thick-cut, bone-in pork chops
6 small or 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon herb salt (recipe here) or 1 tablespoon salt and 1 tablespoon minced rosemary/thyme/oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
2 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon sherry vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
Preparation
Combine all the ingredients (except the pork chops) in a bowl and mix to thoroughly combine. Place the pork chops in a plastic bag or small bowl, pour the marinade over them, cover and place in the refrigerator for 4 - 8 hours. One hour before you plan to grill them, take the chops out of the refrigerator (but leave them in the marinade). Prepare your grill ( I used a grill pan on my stove top) and sear each side, over high heat, for about 4 minutes per side (or until you have pronounced grill marks). Reduce the heat to medium-low or move to a cooler part of the grill and continue to grill, flipping once, for another 10 - 15 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature 140 - 145 degrees. Remove from the grill and let rest, covered, for 5 minutes.
