Grilled Pork Chops with a Blueberry Balsamic Glaze
These grilled pork chops were originally published on Savvy Eats.Reducing blueberry purée and balsamic vinegar together creates a sweet-tart glaze that is perfect for pork chops. Serve these chops with grilled vegetables, potatoes and/or garlic bread. Cover and refrigerate any extra glaze. The leftovers will be great on grilled chicken or another cut of pork. Use within 3-4 days.
Ingredients
- 4 pork chops 10-12 ounces each
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
- black pepper freshly ground, to taste
Instructions
- Place the pork chops in a 9×13” baking pan.
- Whisk together the salt, sugar and water to form a brine, and pour it over the pork chops. Leave the pork chops to brine at room temperature for about 30 minutes (Leaving it at room temperature will help take the chill off the meat so that it cooks through evenly.). Turn the pork chops over every 10-15 minutes to make sure the brine covers all of the pork chops.
- Meanwhile, make the blueberry balsamic glaze: Purée the blueberries in a food processor or blender. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a small saucepan, and pour the berry puree into the sieve. Stir well with a wooden spoon, pressing the juice through the sieve and scraping the skins away from the holes.
- When most of the juice is out, add the vinegar to the saucepan and discard the blueberry skins. Filtering the blueberry purée like this makes the final glaze nice and smooth.
- Bring the blueberry-balsamic mixture to a simmer and cook, stirring often, until it is reduced to about 1⁄2 cup total, about 15-20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in the butter. Set aside to cool a bit.
- Heat your grill to medium-high heat and grease the grates. Pat the pork chops dry and then brush them with oil and sprinkle with black pepper on both sides.
- Grill the pork chops for 5-6 minutes per side, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a chop reads 145oF.
- Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before brushing it liberally with the glaze and serving.
Notes
Recipe by Julie Grice, SavvyEat.com.
See more from the Summer 2014 issue, including a recipe for grilled corn to enjoy with your pork chops.
