Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Smoky grilled pork chops with broccoli and lemon-garlic relish
Prep: 15 minutes Marinate: 30 minutes or more Cook: 15 minutes Makes: 6 servings
If cooking boneless pork chops, be sure they are about 1 inch thick and decrease cooking time by 3 to 4 minutes. If cooking pork country-style ribs, increase cooking time by 10 to 15 minutes and move to a cooler section of the grill if browning too quickly.
6 rib-cut or center-cut bone-in pork chops, each cut about 1 ¼ inches thick and weighing 12 ounces (total 4 ½ pounds)
1 cup applewood, cherry or pecan wood chips for grilling
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
4to6 cups small broccoli florets or 2 bunches broccolini, ends trimmed
Salted lemon-garlic relish, see recipe
Fresh herb sprigs, for garnish
1. Pat
chops dry and place in a baking dish. Season generously on all sides with salt and pepper. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or up to 24 hours.
2. Soak
wood chips in cool water to cover for 20 minutes or more.
3. Prepare
a charcoal grill and let coals burn until they are at medium-high heat and covered in gray ash (an oven thermometer will register 375 degrees to 400 degrees). Or preheat a gas grill to medium-high. Drain wood chips and sprinkle over the hot coals. Or, set wood chips on a double thickness of foil set on the grate over the gas burner. Cover the grill to preheat the grill grates thoroughly.
4. Use tongs
to arrange pork chops in a single uncrowded layer on the preheated grill grates. Cover grill and cook without turning for 8 minutes. Gently loosen chops and flip. Move pieces around as necessary to adjust for hot spots and so pork cooks evenly without excess browning. Cover the grill and continue cooking until the meat is nearly firm when pressed, about 4 to 6 minutes more. (An instant-read thermometer will register 145 degrees.)
5. While the pork
cooks, heat a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the broccoli and cook, uncovered, stirring once or twice, until bright green and crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain well. Set aside uncovered.
6. Remove
the chops from the grill to a large serving platter. Scatter the broccoli over all. Spoon the salted lemon-garlic relish over everything. Garnish with herb sprigs. Serve.
Nutrition information per serving:
433 calories, 26 g fat, 5 g saturated fat, 133 mg cholesterol, 4 g carbohydrates, 1 g sugar, 44 g protein, 523 mg sodium, 2 g fiber