Grilled Boneless Pork Chops from Sloans Creek Farm

INCREDIBLE FLAVOR! & the BEST grilled photo I've ever taken.  Let's take a moment to drool together, shall we?

Pork chops are not all created equal.  Until now, I've never been a big fan. That's because I was buying them from the grocery store and not straight from the farm.  I found these while shopping the Sulphur Springs Farmers' Market and bought them from Sloans Creek Farm. Go to their website SloansCreekFarm.com to learn more and order from them.

The flavor of their pork chops is tender and clean, not gamey.  For the bacon lover reading this, the fatty trim, yes I said fat, tastes like candy.  We ate every morsel on our plates.  My husband said after cleaning his plate, "I've never in my life enjoyed eating the fat off of a cut of meat, until now.  Can we have these in the weekly meal rotation?"

I came up with my own wet rub for these chops and it's VERY GOOD, if I do say so myself.  The ingredients are not common pantry items, I'm sorry.  I bought them from my closest foodie mart, Central Market in Dallas, Texas.  It's not often I cook with non-typical items.  But hey! I gotta add a kick of variety into life sometime, right?

HERE'S THE WET RUB

• 1 teaspoon Chihuahua de Mexico Smoked Salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon New Mexico Chili Powder
• 2 tablespoon bacon drippings, melted

Mix all the dry ingredients together and massage into thawed meat on both sides.  Use the melted bacon drippings to moistened the meat to prevent sticking on the grill.  Allow the meat to rest on the counter for about 30 minutes.  Store the meat in a covered container in the ice-box, if you're not going to grill right away.

GRILLING TIME

You'll need a drip pan, such as a small cookie sheet covered with heavy duty foil.
Get the grill hot to around 375º to 400ºF. Prepare it for indirect grilling.

Grill the meat over drip pan between the heat.  Depending on the thickness of the meat, 3/4-inch thick chops may only need 6 minutes on one side 4 or 5 minutes the other side, where as 1-inch may 8 minutes on one side side, then 5 or 6 minutes on the other side.  It won't take long to cook them, so no wandering away from the grill.

I set my grill marks last. Just before I'm ready to take them off, I move the meat directly over the heat for that last minute or two of grilling.  Flip the meat when you see the grill marks.  Once fully cooked, transfer meat to a plate/platter and cover with foil, then let them rest for 10 minutes.  Use the time to set your table.

If you have ANY leftovers, these chops are good shredded and mixed into bean burritos with sauteed onions.

Check out Sloans Creek Farm for high quality meats.  Or visit with Ellen at the Sulphur Springs Farmers' Market.

Here's Ellen sharing with the kids at market about grass-fed meats.