Pork Chops With a Honey-Mustard Glaze
Jun 13th, 2009 | By Peter Minakis | Category: BBQ, Greek, Greek Grill, Herbs, Honey, Lemon, Main, Meat, Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Onions, Pork, Potato, Recipes, Side, Vegetables
Today, I’m going to share with you an entire menu that’s cooked on the grill. We’re talking from the protein (pork chops) to the potatoes and even the vegetables (mushrooms) meet the heat.
First off are the pork chops. These pork chops are 1/2 inch thick and I left the fat around the outside. You buy the pork chops with fat on them, they are left there for a reason: flavour and to keep the otherwise dry meat moist.
One of the many flavours in Greek cooking is “glyko-xino” (sweet & sour). Documentation of the Ancients’ sweet & sour recipes exists in Athenaeaus’ Deipnosophists, one of the few books on gastronomy that has survived the ages.
But unlike Asian cuisine where the definition has more emphasis on the sweet, Greek tastes dictate that the meat be primarily savory in flavour with a hint of sweetness. Today, the pork chops get a light marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, oregano and some honey for a sweet finish.
The next component of our all-grill menu are the potatoes – again done in a Greek style. One of my favourite grilling foods to throw on the grill are potatoes. I thinly slice some potatoes, toss them in olive, season to your tastes and wrap in foil. The packet goes into the grill on in-direct heat with the lid closed.
Today’s flavouring of the potatoes comes courtesy of the kind folks at Simply Greek Foods. Simply Greek sent me a sampler package of their five unique seasonings: souvlaki, lamb rub, fish & seafood, Greek salad and potato & veg.
The potatoes today got tossed using the potato & veg seasoning. From tasting this seasoning on it’s own, I can detect some dried onion & garlic, parsley and oregano and some dried lemon to give your potatoes that authentic Greek taste. All the seasoning blends are suited for their type of dish and salt is used sparingly ( a good thing). You get to choose the amount of salt in your dish.
The third and final component of today’s grilled feast are the mushrooms. You will need a vegetable basket for a grill or one of those grill baskets used for fish will work here too…just place the mushrooms on top (so the mushrooms don’t fall through the grill).
You can use any type of mushrooms you fancy. Here, I halved some Cremini mushrooms and tossed them with some Oyster mushrooms, olive oil, salt and pepper. Simply place some on your in your pre-heated vegetable tray and the mushrooms are ready in minutes.
While still warm, gently toss the cooked mushrooms in some roasted garlic, grilled red onions, a splash of Balsamic vinegar and and some baby spinach.
Be it in Greece or anywhere else during the summer. The kitchen can get very hot very quickly and the grill can be a saviour for those upcoming hot summer nights.
If you’re like me, you relish every moment of summer, spend as much time outdoors and you enjoy the company of family and friends. Summer’s upon us and you’ll find me more and more by the grill. See you soon!
Pork Chops With a Honey-Mustard Glaze
(serves 4)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. fresh chopped oregano
3 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. of honey
Simply Greek BBQ Potatoes
4 large potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. of Simply Greek Potato-Veg Seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
aluminum foil
Grill Basket Mushrooms
1/4 cup olive oil
2 pints of mixed mushrooms (I used Cremini & Oyster)
2 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
1 red onion, sliced
1/2 head of garlic, roasted
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. of Balsamic vinegar
couple of handfuls of baby spinach
- In a bowl, stir together all of your marinade ingredients for the pork chops. Taste and adjust seasoning (should be just a hint of sweetness from the honey). Place the pork chops on a shallow glass tray and spoon about half the marinade (reserve the remaining half for finishing the chops) and brush and coat both sides of the pork chops. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for a couple of hours. Return to temperature before grilling.
- Pre-heat just one side of your gas grill for “indirect” cooking. Prepare your potatoes by slicing them and adding to a bowl with the olive oil, Simply Greek potato & veg seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Place your potato slices in the middle of a large piece of aluminum foil and seal tightly. Place the packet of potatoes on the side of your grill with no heat. Close the lid of your grill and your potato packet should be ready in about 35 minutes.
- At this time, you can also roast your garlic by slightly cutting off the top of the garlic head, place the garlic in some foil, drizzle with olive oil and envelope the garlic in the aluminum foil. Place your garlic right beside your potatoes (again, indirect heat). The garlic should be ready when your potatoes are (approx. 1/2 hr.).
- Prepare your mushrooms. Cremini or button mushrooms can be halved or quartered (nothing too small) and toss them in a bowl with your Oyster mushrooms, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. At this point you may also grill your red onions. Simply cut them into 1/2 inch rings, brush with oil, season with salt and pepper and grill under a watchful eye.
- At this point, your potatoes, roasted garlic and grilled onions should be ready. It’s time to grill your pork chops under a medium-high heat. Season your chops with a little salt and pepper and place on the side of the grill with direct heat. Grill for 4 minutes a side.
- Place your mushroom mixture in your vegetable grill basket and grill for about 5 minutes while occasionally shaking the grill basket to sear all sides of the mushrooms.
- When your pork chops are cooked on both sides, brush the reserved marinade on them and reserve and keep warm.
- Carefully open your packet of potatoes and serve on a platter. The cooked mushrooms are added to a bowl and tossed with the grilled onions, half a head of roasted garlic, the Balsamic vinegar and the baby spinach. Lay the mushrooms on your platter to act as a bed for your grilled pork chops. Garnish with fresh or dried Greek oregano and wedges of lemon.
Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.
© 2009, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.
I love everything about this. It looks so appetizing – the pork, the potatoes, the mushrooms – all a great summer meal.
I love everything about your grilled menu Peter.
YAY for outdoor grilling! Wilson and I just gave a mini-tour of ours too!
I have one of those vegetable baskets and never used it, grilled mushrooms here we come! Oh, and your chops, so true about the fat, they look divine!
LL
P.S. Haha, I wrote my comment before seeing Linda’s above, as it was taking some time to load your entire page. We are definitely in agreement!
I don’t think of using mustard often enough except as a sandwich spread or in a vinaigrette. Pork seems to be perfect for a mustard glaze. Great preparation and presentation. I could almost taste it, especially that crispy brown potato in the 4th picture.
I love the look of those pork chops and I really love being able to do everything at the grill, it allows you extra time outside.
What a great BBQ. Looks very delicious!
A great grilled dinner! Makes me hungry now.
Ooh! I’m salivating! What a great combo on the “barbie” mate! Fantastic ingredients and beautifully presented…gimme pork fat any day!
Everything looks terrific! Those chops are making me drool. I’ll grab some wine and be right over! ;)
I would love to find that seasoning that you used for your potatoes. They look so good.
Now your talking Peter..! These are meals to be enjoyed with good friends, and lots of backyard games and Sangria for all!
The meat looks so … juicy!!
That’s a perfect summer meal!!
A meal to be enjoyed with good friends:))
Thanks for the menu Peter! Just in time for the weekend! I got myself a giant bag of shiitakes, I think I’ll grill them tomorrow according to your suggestion!
Have a lovely weekend!
Everything looks incredible! I thought the pork chops were amazing, but man oh man, those potatoes.
Oh Peter, you had me at every single word in the name of the dish. (Hey, even “with” and “a” worked for me, hehe.) What’s almost great is that I have everything (including the pork, can you believe it) just sitting here, except for the honey, which was invaded by ants because someone forgot to close the container. Grr!
we’re having these pork chops today (minus the honey – some people still keep their sweet separate from their sour!)
same as maria…! pork chops for us as well but no honey! just the traditional salt-pepper-oregano…
Oooh now I want that for dinner! Looks amazing Peter – I’m lovin it!
You are definitely the grill master! What a great meal. Wish I would try it…
It all looks awesome, but when I saw the potatoes, all I could think was, “I want that.”
I love everything about this meal. We’ve been using the grill since it’s warmed up, too.
Now this is a made in heaven meat and potato lovers barbecue menu Peter. I will have to look out for the spices:D
What a great meal Peter! I have got to try potatoes done like that…
sensational meal. although i’ll always head for the potatoes first, i can’t help but admire the pork too. that glaze sounds incredible!
I don’t cook with pork, but this marinade could be equally great with lamb, too, don’t you think, Peter? Great recipe.
The honey mustard glaze sounds amazing but I think the mushrooms are the real stars of this dish.
Everything looks delicious and I love that the whole meal is grilled. Beautiful!
I make something really similar but mine never turned out looking as good as yours. Must be the grill marks :)
I just love the sound of the glaze! it’s a perfect dish for the summer Peter! yum!
Awesome pork chops! The glaze sounds wonderful and the potatoes look just perfect!
Happy summer! Those chops look finger lickin good.
What a wonderful menu! You are certainly master of the grill. We had your pork souvlaki again last night & were reminded of that
I’m hungry for meat today, i take it all !
Wonderfull !
i love these “all grilled” meals. haven’t used honey mustard on meat in a long time. those chops look succulent!
Grilling season is upon us! Those pork chops look perfectly grilled and the sauce sounds really tasty. What a meal!
This all ooks so beautifully luscious, especially from a chilly night downunder.
When my Folks got a gas barbeque I insisted it was one with a hooded lid. Just brilliant for our Christmas cooking in the heat of our early Summer.
Now this is a recipe I can recreate in Winter right now thanks to some good cast iron cookware. And easy to scale down the portion sizes to feed just me (and the pork loving Zebbycat!!)
Your photos once again show glorious food, that you follow with excellent recipe info – many sincere thanks,
Michelle in Wellington, NZ :o)
yum yum yum! I made the most horrible dinner for my family last night. I think I will make it up to them by giving them this tonight. They will LOVE it!
That all looks great!! A perfect summer meal!
I really like at the flavors in this marinade. I bet it would also go great with chicken.
[...] looking for a new pork chop recipe, Kalofagas was the first place I visited. I found Peter’s Pork Chops with Honey Mustard Glaze. Easy and [...]