After a long day spent outside in the cold, spreading a mass amount of mulch, B.O.B. Bob decided that he felt the need to grill something. Lucky me! Yes, you do sense some sarcasm there. B.O.B. loves to grill, but somehow I end up doing all of the work. The last thing I felt like doing after a day on my hands and knees in mulch was cooking dinner, but of course I ended up caving in to his desires, because he assured me that he would help. While he went off to the grocery store to gather ingredients, I whipped up this wonderful blood orange marinade that I’ve been thinking about for the past month. I’m so head over heels in love with blood oranges, and very sad that they aren’t around for a longer period of time; I’ve been hoarding the last remaining few that I have.
You can pretty much guess that besides going to the market, B.O.B. Bob didn’t end up being much of a help in the kitchen. While I was peeling potatoes, steaming asparagus, and preparing some bread to toast on the grill, B.O.B. Bob spent about five minutes outside “man”ing the grill. Oh how wonderful to be a man! Next time around, I’m making him do all of the work! On a side note, it’s always fun to see what B.O.B. Bob comes home with after a trip to the market. This time around he decided that he felt like having sandwiches for lunch, so he needed to buy the insanely large plastic bin of lettuce that is large enough to make a hundred sandwiches. Bigger is better, right? I guess we’ll be eating salad at some point this week.
Ingredients:
- 4 Thin Boneless Pork Chops
- Juice of 1 Blood Orange
- 1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
- 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Mixed Peppercorns
Directions:
- Place all ingredients, except for the pork chops, into a large Ziploc bag. Seal tightly, and then smoosh around, till all of the ingredients are completely mixed.
- Add the pork chops, and let marinate for at least 20 minutes.
- Throw the pork chops on a grill, over medium to medium-high heat. Grill until fully cooked.
- After removing the pork chops from the grill, cover with foil, and then allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Suggestions:
- You can substitute the juice of a naval orange for that of a blood orange if they are not in season,
- I used Kauai Island Wildflower Blossom Honey in this recipe, but any local honey will work. The honey will be easier to incorporate into the other marinade ingredients if you place it in the microwave for 15 seconds first. (Click HERE to see why you should use local honey.)
- I only used mixed peppercorns in this recipe because I ran out of black peppercorns. They add a bit of color to the marinade, but the taste will be similar if you decide to forego them for the black peppercorns.
- Thin pork chops will cook very quickly, so don’t leave the grill alone, or you will end up with overcooked and dry meat.
Improvements:
- Take the time to marinate the pork chops overnight, to get the fullest flavor out of the marinade.
- This marinade would also be wonderful on grilled shrimp, just don’t marinate for longer than 20 minutes; the acid from the blood orange will begin to cook the shrimp.
Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck
-Colleen
