Monday Dinner

Honey-Soy Glazed Pork Chops, Corn-Edamame Succotash, Yeast Roll

Here's my recipe for the easiest, most awesome glaze for pork ever. Ready? 3 parts soy sauce, 2 parts honey, 1 part balsamic vinegar. That's it. Seriously. The end result is so much more flavorful, rich and complex than you'd expect from 3 simple ingredients. (I use Tablespoons to make the sauce, which makes the perfect amount for 4 chops, but you can make as much or as little as you need as long as you keep the proportions the same.)

I brined the boneless chops in much the same way that I brine a turkey. I used most of the same ingredients, but I did it for a much shorter amount of time. (About 1/4 cup each Kosher salt and brown sugar, 1 t. black peppercorns and 1 bay leaf in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cool down with 3 - 4 cups of ice cubes. Strain into a large ziploc bag w/ chops and let brine for 4 hours.) Then I patted the chops dry and seared them in a hot pan with a little oil, cooking for about 4 minutes on each side before pouring on the glaze. I cooked for another minute or two, then served.

On the side I served yeast rolls (frozen, packaged, on sale), and Corn-Edamame Succotash - a recipe from Smithfield. One important note - I didn't have fresh thyme but substituted dried instead. Next time, I'll leave the herbage out of the succotash altogether. I thought it was overpowering and not a good compliment to the rest of the flavors. It almost ruined the dish for me. As it was, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as (I suspect) I would have without it.

Totals:

$3.45 - boneless center-cut pork chops (Aldi)
$1.70 - corn and edamame (1 frozen bag of each after BOGO + coupon)
.40 - rolls (BOGO + double coupon)
.50 - remaining ingredients

$6.05 for dinner for 4 (sister joined us)