Grilled Pork Chops with a Blueberry Balsamic Glaze

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.