Is My Blog Burning? 6: Allspice Brined Grilled Pork Chops with Mango-Habanero BBQ Sauce and Mango-Apple-Corn Salsa

In typical LENNDEVOURS fashion, I waited until almost the last minute to decide what I was going to prepare for IMBB? 6 -- Grillers (and BBQers) Delight, hosted by TooManyChefs.com. I ran through the usual suspects...chicken...steak...maybe a grilled pizza (a new specialty that all my friends love). But in the end...I just love grilling pork, especially after it's had a nice long soak in flavorful brine. So, without further adieu...here it is...

Allspice Brined Grilled Pork Chops with Mango-Habanero BBQ Sauce and Mango-Apple-Corn Salsa

I bought two great pork chops in the late morning and the second I got home, I dunked them into a brine to soak. If you love pork on the grill but haven't tried brining, take my advice and do so. It keeps the meat so moist on the grill. I didn't write down the recipe for the brine, but basically I made a saltwater mixture (as salty as say ocean water...so keep adding salt until you get there), threw in a bay leaf, a handful of allspice berries, a few peppercorns and a splash or two of cider vinegar.

While my swine was enjoying it's final bath...I started on the BBQ sauce.

Mango-Habanero BBQ Sauce
1/2 diced Vidalia onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 T olive oil
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1 cup mango nectar (such as Goya)
1 T honey
1 T minced ginger
1 t ground allspice
1 lime (both the zest and the juice)
2 T diced habanero pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Start off by sauteing the onion in the olive oil over medium-high until softened, but not browned. Add the pepper, pepper flakes, ginger and garlic and sautee for a couple minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a strong simmer and reduce the heat to medium or medium-low...just enough to keep it simmering.

Cook for 30-40 minutes, reducing it very slowly. Adjust salt and pepper as needed and set aside to cool.

While the BBQ sauce was reducing...I whipped up this delicious salsa as well:

Mango-Apple-Corn Salsa
1 ripe mango, diced
1 lime (juice and zest)
1/4 red onion, finely diced
1/2 Granny Smith apple, diced
1 T honey
1 small tomato, seeded and diced
Kernels from 1 ear of grilled corn
1/2 t red pepper flakes
Splash of rice wine vinegar
Cilantro to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

This one is real simple...just toss it all together and let it sit in the fridge for a while so the flavors can meld a little. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Once the pork chops have been in the brine for a few hours (I soaked mine a little over eight), rinse them off briefly and pat dry before brushing with a little olive oil and tossing them on a screeching-hot grill.

Depending on the thickness of your chops, cooking time will obviously vary, but I cooked mine for about five minutes per side (shifting them half way through each side to get diamond-shapd grill marks) and then finished the pork on the warming rack for another 5 minutes or so. Baste the pork with the sauce after you flip it the first time. If you baste it too early, the sugars in the sauce will burn quickly.

Take the pork off of the grill, slather it again with the remaining sauce and let it rest for ten minutes.

Put it on your favorite serving dish and top with the salsa and additional cilantro!

ENJOY!

Comments

[Jennifer]

That mango-habanero BBQ sauce sounds scrumptious...but being a non-pork person I am wondering how well it might work with chicken, beef or lamb? Any thoughts?

[Cathy]

Oh ... this sounds (and looks) so good. I literally had to dust off my grill for this IMBB - I grill so infrequently - but I am really inspired now. Thanks so much for this recipe!

[Donna in Harrisburg]

YUMMY! You can throw some bourbon in the brine to bring up the flavor of the pork even more!!! And, I like to throw a little apple wood chips on the fire and let them smoke whilst the pork cooks. Brining and Grilling -- a match made in heaven.