Towanda's Treats

This is my first official post from Baltimore as the new Mrs. Kyle Horst :) This recipe is the first real meal I made for Kyle in our new home in Remington. I had been laboring over what to make, decided on Salmon, only to find that the salmon we purchased was pre-made Santa Fe seasoned salmon that steamed in the microwave. Really?? Can people not season their OWN salmon??! After being seriously disappointed and at a loss of what to make, I searched recipes for pork chops on All-Recipes.com and settled on this one to try. With my brand new Calphalon grill pan at hand (thanks Lovetts!!), I dove into this recipe and it was a huge success! Hope you enjoy it, too :)

I cut the recipe in half and it was the perfect amount for 2 pork chops.

Chesapeake Bay Grilled Pork Chops

1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1 Tbls seafood seasoning (such as Old Bay)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbls chopped fresh basil (I used McCormick dried basil)
1 lime, juiced (approx equivalent to 2 Tbls lime juice)
cracked black pepper to taste
8 boneless pork chops, 1/2 inch thick

1. Whisk together vegetable oil, vinegar, Old Bay, garlic, basil, lime juice, and black pepper in a bowl. Pour into a resealable plastic bag. Add the chops, coat with marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal. Marinate in fridge for 4-6 hours, flipping periodically. **Note: I marinated for 1 1/2 hours, being sure to massage the meat every so often, and it still tasted great.

2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, lightly oil the grate. Remove chops from bag & discard excess marinade.

3. Grill until pork is no longer pink in the center, 5-7 minutes per side (160F on a meat thermometer). **Note: I used a non-stick grill pan at medium heat, 5 minutes on each side.

Prep Time: 10 minutes. Cook Time: 15 min. Total Time: ~4hrs or less Serves: 8

I served this with roasted potatoes and salad. Here is the recipe for the potatoes (I changed it to suit my own tastes & ingredients).

Roasted Potato Wedges with Shallots & Rosemary

2 lb 4 0z potatoes (I used about four or five old potatoes Kyle had for like a month, haha)
6 Tbls olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
5 1/2 oz baby shallots
2 garlic cloves, sliced
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400F. Peel and cut each potatoes into 8 thick wedges. Put the potatoes in a large saucepan of lightly salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Heat oil in a large roasting pan in the oven(I used Pyrex 8x8 glass baking dish). Drain the potatoes well and add to the roasting pan. Strip the leaves from the rosemary springs, chop finely, and sprinkle over the potatoes.

**Note: I pretty much nixed these seasoning and just used freshly ground pepper, sea salt, parsley, and garlic for the potatoes once they were in the roasting pan. Stirred them once, ground more seasoning on top, and then once again.

Roast the potatoes in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, turning twice during cooking. Add the shallots and garlic and roast for an additional 15 minutes, until golden brown. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer to a warm serving dish and serve.

These potatoes came out perfectly! Soft inside, and the outside had a crispy skin. Mmm!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Girls, y'all gotta get postin! I'm a blog hog! Haha!

xoxo from Baltimore,

Casey...Horst :)