Americana

Here is a slice of good old Americana. This Sunday we decided to thaw some pork chops and do some grillin (as it turns out, one of the packages we thought was pork chops was actually steak, but hey, that only works in my favor if you ask me).

I don't like to bake meat if I can grill instead, and pan frying anything tends to leave you with something more akin to shoe leather. The only problem is that I had no pork chop grilling recipes or experience. So to the internet I went, and this is what I found:

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4 (3/4 to 1 inch thick) pork chops

1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning
1/2 tsp. dried whole oregano

Sprinkle pork chops, with salt, lemon pepper, and oregano. Place chops in 4 to 5 inches from coals. Grill over low to medium hot coals 25 minutes or until the chops are no longer pink, turning once. 4 servings.

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I used a little olive oil with the rub. The result? Mmmmmm...delicious! It was mouthwatering. I of course adjusted the amounts involved due to the fact that we had only two chops and they were not 1'' thick. It took considerably less than 25 minutes to grill them.

The ale you see pictured is the new offering from Anheuser Bush (now owned by a Belgian co. called Inbev by the way, which sort of cheapens the title of this post and their beer). It is a suprisingly good brew all things considered. It is amber in color, has a rich smooth flavor, and sort of reminds me of Killians Irish Red. I don't like a lot of hops in my beer, and it needs to have a nice finish without biting, and this malty caramel goodness does the trick. I am a fan. I shall consume more.

As you look at the picture of our dinner, you may have noticed that the steak looks like pac man is about to eat one of the pork chops. Do not adjust your set, this is just the cut I had to make to be sure that the steak was not still mooing inside. I like mine on the medium rare side and am not afraid of the pink center, but I have on occasion been too quick to pull the meat off the grill, causing it to be a little too bloody for my wife's taste. Since I am not a professional and do not own a meat thermometer, I just cut into the center and peek. Doesn't do much for the visual presentation, but again, I am not a professional.

It was a fantastic weekend for us. Our baby girl is now six months old, I ran in the Campus Classic 5k Saturday, there is a bite in the air, football on tv, steak/chops on the grill and cold beer in the fridge. If that ain't the American dream, I don't know what is...

TIP:
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