Hickory Smoked Mexican Pork Chops

This week I was thinking south of the border, not that that is anything new. I went down to the Mexican market to look around and see what they had good on sale.

If you have never been to a Mexican market it is an experience.  Everything is a bit different; first there is the way to loud Fiesta music, just makes your feet want to do their own thing. I’ll tell ya, a few times I have let them go to…Patti just gets back and watches.

Most of the markets around here have a deli set up with a place to sit and eat when you come in the door. There is a lot of good stuff at good prices… we go sometimes just for lunch.

I really enjoy the way they marinate the meats and chicken, with either a dry or wet marinade, both are good. They cut the meat different, too.

You never find a 2 inch steak of any kind. They cut everything thin, 1/4 – 3/8 of an inch. This also makes for a short cooking time.  

The regular prices are always good but unbelievable on sale. The pork chops I found for tonight were only six dollars and change. I don’t remember how many pounds, but it was a grill load. And it’s very good eating, when “Crash Test Dummies “come over they always load up.

Look Good?

Ingredients: For Grill

Pork Chops

Bunch of Green Onions

2 Bunches Asparagus

Directions:

Clean the asparagus and give it a little spray of olive oil. I also sprinkled a little steak seasoning on them. You want to put these on first because they will take the longest to cook.

I let them go about 10 minutes on low heat, turning every 5 minutes. Then, I added the green onions doing the same for another 10 minutes. I pulled the asparagus and covered it to keep it warm and put the frozen fried potatoes in the oven and meat on the grill.

Preheat your grill to medium  heat (300). Add your wet hickory chips to the fire and oil the grill. A cooking spray is easiest for this.

(Note: you can add your hickory directly to the grill or you can use foil smoke packets.
(Two handfuls wet chips and one dry, fold foil into a packet, poke holes in it with a fork and you’re good to go.)

Ingredients: Champagne Cheese Sauce

½ cup half and half
1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
¼ cup blue cheese

1 bottle good champagne
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 Tsp. black pepper

Directions: Patti’s Champagne Cheese Sauce

In a saucepan, melt cheese with the half and half.
Open wine to check for freshness, taste to verify.

Stir sauce until blended.
Sample wine for bubble content,
if it’s ok, add 1 cup to sauce.

Add seasonings to sauce.
Stir to blend, sample wine and continue to stir until you and the sauce are smooth and bubbly…

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone.
Don’t be afraid to make changes to your taste.

Take it and run with it….

Enjoy,
Ken & Patti