Balsamic Pork Chops and Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts

About once a month, I find myself with a couple of thawed pork chops and no ideas for them. See, I am not crazy about pork chops. I will definitely eat them, but they’re not my favorite. My husband, on the other hand, loves pork chops…which is why I try to make them about once a month.

After a day out in Chicago’s “wintry mix” of snow, rain, wind and ice, I was definitely not up for making a run to the grocery store, so I had to work with what I had on hand–which wasn’t much. I figured I would marinate the pork chops in something simple, and then remembered a marinade Giada used on her show for drumettes, so I decided to use that. I have made this recipe with chicken before here and it’s great.

After marinating the chops, I pan fried them for a couple minutes to caramelize before putting them in the oven. I actually preferred this marinade with the pork over the chicken! I definitely recommend the pan frying because the caramelization gives them extra flavor and makes them so good.

We had this with some brown rice and a really simple recipe for golden-crusted brussels sprouts. It was so easy and turned out delicious! I used grana padano for the cheese. By the way, am I the only one who didn’t know it was brusselS sprouts? Here I have been saying brussel sprouts forever.

Balsamic Pork Chops

2-3 pork chops (I used center cut, boneless)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 sprigs of rosemary
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 Tbsp. canola oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

In a ziplock bag, combine the vinegar, honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, rosemary and garlic. Shake/squeeze the bag to dissolve the brown sugar. Add a little salt and pepper to taste. Place the pork chops in the bag and massage the marinade into them. Marinate the chops for 3-4 hours.

Preheat the oven to 400*

Heat the canola oil in an oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Add the pork chops (reserving the marinade) and cook for about 2 minutes per side, until they caramelize. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for about 10 minutes  or until pork chops reach an internal temperature of 150.

Meanwhile, add the reserved marinade and a pinch of red pepper flakes to a small saucepan. Bring the marinade to a boil,  then reduce the heat slightly and cook until thickened (the 15 minutes the pork chops are in the oven should do it).

Brush the cooked pork chops with the marinade and serve.

adapted from Giada De Laurentiis