Pantry Pork Chops in a Pinch

Sometimes it’s not ideal - the tool, the time, the timing, the ingredients or the lack their of.  Sometimes Korean Dads just have to improvise and make do with what they've got.  Here's what happened... 

It's 5ish and my beautiful wife texts me saying she's bringing home pork chops; they were on sale and it’s what's for dinner.  She also wants mashed potatoes and veggies, zucchini & yellow squash to be specific.  I ask how she wants the chops.  She says, "Flavorful."  [Excursis:  You gotta understand my wife; she's a sauce girl.  She loves sauce.  Doesn't matter much the kind.  She just wants more flavor.  She will pour gravy over her bbq sauce to make it more "flavorful."]  So, I'm thinking that I need at least 4 hours to marinade the chops in something bold, and that I need to grill it.  But, it's now after 5pm and dinner needs to be at 6:30 latest for the kids.  Pickin' up what I'm puttin' down? 

I go into desperation mode.  I run out to the back yard to visit Old Rusty, my trusty back yard propane grill (propane vs charcoal will be thoroughly examined in a future post).  I fire her up and DISASTER!  The Home Depot aftermarket performance burners have been rusted and burnt through and there is one giant column of flame in the middle/back of the grill.  Time for Plan B.  What's Plan B?  Gonna have to broil the chops.  Not a bad idea.  But what about "Flavorful?" 

Ok, I decide to make something Asian and create an Asian gravy for the extra Flavor!  I look for garlic, no garlic.  I look for ginger, no ginger.  I look for onions.  We have ONIONS!  Woohoo!  I open the pantry and quickly scan...  I see lemon pepper, soy sauce, garlic powder, sugar, sesame oil, and a strange bottle that reads in big letters... "GINGER flavor dressing, Great for Salads!"  I try it and it’s not bad.  Very gingery and tart.  I'm gonna use it.  Here's what I did...

Ingredients: 
8-.5lb pork chops (not much marbling at all and lots of bone dust; but the flesh was firm and well hydrated; meat quality and the art of choosing meat will be discussed in a future post). 
.25 cups soy sauce
.25 cups Ginger Flavor Dressing (see pic)
.25 cups EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
1 tbsp sesame seed oil
2 tbsp table sugar
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon pepper
.25 large red onion (finely diced)
.25 stick butter
1tbsp all purpose flour


Marinade (more like a Dip due to the time issue)
Add all ingredients (minus the butter and flour) in a large mixing boil and wisk together, paying special attention to macerate the diced onions (could have used a blender or food processor but remember the time issue? Yeah…)


Pork Chops

Set oven on high broil.  Set one oven rack to broil and the other in the middle to finish in bake mode.  Dip pork chops into the marinade/dip, assuring full coverage.  Place chops on roasting pan and broil for 5 minutes or until surface is slightly charred.  Turn over and do the same on the other side.  Remove from broil rack and place in middle rack.  Set to bake at 400 F for about 7min or until internal temp reaches 145ish (internal temp will rise a few degrees to about 150 F for medium well; if you need it to be well done, then add another 3 min or wait until internal temp is 170.  Any more than that becomes shoe leather, unless you like shoe leather).  Remove chops and allow to rest for 5-10 mins before serving.

Gravy
Create a rue with a butter and flour under medium heat.  When rue turns light brown, add remaining dip/marinade and allow to simmer.  Add dripping from the pork chops into gravy mix and stir frequently to thicken.  Cut with water if needed and add a few grinds of pepper (I’m pretty sure you will not need to add salt). 
Add gravy modestly to pork chops and mashed potatoes. Serve Pan Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash (I will post recipes and techniques for mashed potatoes and Grilled veggies in a future post for “basics.”)

Result

(How in the world do I get my food pics to look as gorgeous as Freeing My Martha?)

It turned out ok.  Actually, the wife and kids rather enjoyed it.  Look, like most avid cooks, I’m not proud that I used garlic powder and premixed Ginger Flavor Dressing.  But in a pinch, it works.  And, sometimes, when everything is wrong, it turns out just fine.

Hope you enjoy the recipe, and my pain.  Let me know.