I usually marinate pork when I grill. But these past few weeks, I decided to change it up a bit. Instead of marinating the pork, I decided to just liberally season them an hour before I get the charcoal going and then baste the pork while on the grill.
Since it is the weekend… I thought I’d shared this with you in case you want to treat your mom or wife to a home cooked meal instead of taking her out to a crowded restaurant. But then again, most women love to go out. We want to take a break from cooking and washing dishes at home. And, because we want a whole new experience. We like to experience new things and new places. We have to engage all our senses to feel alive. And Awaken our emotions. So… just in case, she really is serious about staying home for mother’s day and chill out at home with you… Then you’ve got an easy recipe that is tasty and full of flavors.
By the way… you can also use this marinade as baste for steaks. The rib-eye or New York strips would be a great choice for grilling because of its fat content.
Allow one chop per person. Two if you have a good appetite.
Serve this with baked or oven roasted potatoes and grilled Asparagus on the side. And maybe a glass of wine. Or cold beer. Or margarita on the rocks. Whatever she likes to drink. 
I understand that there more pork chops in here than the recipe calls for. That’s because I only grill on weekends. And I want to maximize the use of the hot charcoals… So I grill enough pork chops to last several days during the week.
I always have this on hand. Already mixed. So it is handy whenever I need to seasoning.
Season the pork chops liberally with the Seasoning and Spices Mix.
Instead of marinating the pork chops, I basted them with this while cooking on the grill.
I used hardwood briquettes. These are the best charcoal I’ve used. They are a little over a dollar more than the popular brand. But I find that they last longer and I use less briquettes.
My hands are small, so it took a bit of getting used to using these. But these tools are perfect for grilling. I also have grill brush (not shown in photo). I bought them as a set.
Juicy. Succulent. Flavorful grilled pork chops. Grill away my friends!
Fennel Marjoram White Wine Basted Grilled Pork Chops
Serves 3 – 6 people
Ingredients:
6 thick rib end chops – each chop should be about 1 pound each
Season pork chops with the following:
1 cup kosher salt
1 TBSP. ground black pepper
2 tsps. cayenne
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
Mix kosher salt and spices in a small bowl.
Liberally season pork chops on all sides. (Use about 1 teaspoon of seasoning per pound of meat.)
Store remaining seasoning and spices in a tightly covered container for future use.
Fennel Marjoram White Wine Marinade:
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup light olive oil
2 TBSPs. white wine – I used Chardonnay
2 TBSPs. Worcestershire
2 tsps. Liquid smoke – hickory or mesquite
2 tsps. kosher salt – I used coarse sea salt
1 tsp. fennel seeds – crushed or ground
1 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 bay leaves – torn into small pieces
6 garlic cloves – crushed and minced
Whisk marinade ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Fire up your grill as you normally would. I am biased towards charcoal grill over gas grill. I think meats grilled on charcoal are best.
Get your grill to at least 350°F.
Place three to six chops on the grill, depending on how large is your grill.
Baste each chop with the marinade.
Put out any flares with squirts of water. Then close your grill top and adjust air ventilation to minimum. (You want to maintain the heat at around 350°F and keep all the smoke.)
Grill one side for 8 – 10 minutes. Baste the chops before flipping to the other side. Baste the chops again. Close the grill top continue grilling for another 8 – 10 minutes or until done.
NOTE: Check the chops after 7 minutes just to be sure they’re not burning. Baste them if needed. Continually check for flares so as not to burn them.
Remove grilled chops onto a covered dish. Keep the pork covered for at least five minutes before serving. Serve hot.
After eating these grilled pork chops, you would never want to eat pork chops any other way. And if you do these with rib eye or New York steaks… oh my god!
Enjoy and Happy Grilling!
Tess
Tess’ Grilling Secrets:
- To infuse those smoky flavors in grilled meats… soak at least 6 large “Mesquite Cookin’ Chunks” in water one to two hours before firing up the grill. Add 5 chunks, one in each corner and one in the middle, over the hot charcoal, right before placing the pork chops on the grill. This will create plenty of smoke and will give the pork chops great smoky flavors.
- I have grilled sausage links (Johnson’s) this way too. Only I grill them last. After I’ve grilled all the other meats. And when the charcoals have cooled down a bit down to around 300°F – 325°F. Again, right before I place the sausage links on the grill… I’d add several mesquite chunks that have been soaked in water.
- I buy a Rib End Roast that’s about 6 pounds and cut them myself. This saves me almost a dollar per pound. And if I am grilling steaks. Sam’s Club has the best steaks for the price.
