CHEF SAMBRANO: Grill em Mexican Pork Chops with Tortilla Tomatillo

Here's a grilled pork chop recipe a buddy handed to me, of course because we got different taste buds and different DNA, I sort of tweaked it. As spring and summer looms in the near distance, it's time we dudes start to think "Grill Time!" (We'll do this indoors using a cast iron grill pan)

Here are some of the ingredients

1 tbsp. ancho chile powder
1 tbsp. ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
6 minced cloves of garlic
2 limes, save one to be juiced, and one cut into wedges
1/2 cup olive oil
Sea Salt and Black Pepper
4 loin pork chops with bone in, and some fat
4 tomatillos halved and cleaned out
1 Anaheim chile, halved and seeded
1/4 cup cilantro rough chopped
1 Avocado diced up
Handful of tortilla chips smashed up

What To Do.

Use a large mixing bowl, combine the chile powder, coriander, oregano, garlic, lime juice and 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and then season with salt and pepper. Add in the pork chops and flip to coat it. Cover and refrigerate for 2-6 hours.

Bring chops to room temperature before grilling set it aside at the ready.

Set a cast-iron grill pan over high heat. And in a bowl, toss the tomatillos and Anaheims with 1 tablespoon of the oil; season with salt and pepper. Grill over high heat until the tomatillos are lightly charred about 3-4 minutes. Transfer the tomatillos and the Anaheim to a work surface.

Salsa:

Then coarsely chop the tomatillos and mince the Anaheim. Place it in a bowl and add the cilantro, avocado and the remaining oil . Season with the sea salt and pepper.

Turn the heat down under the grill pan to medium. Brush the marinade off the chops, then grill the chops over medium high heat until lightly charred and an instant-read thermometer inserted near the bone registers 135°, about 12 minutes or so 6 per side. Place the chops on to a platter; cover loosely with foil. Let rest for 5 minutes. (To be a great griller, watch the chops if you notice that juices are sweating out from the chops, it is a good indication that the chops are cooking and you need to keep an eye on it. WATCH THE HEAT)

Stir the tortilla chips into the salsa and spoon the salsa over the chops. Serve right away, with lime wedges.

Spanish rice or black beans with some sour cream works well with these chops too. And being Filipino, with our Spanish influence, I like this kind of stuff. Clean and delicious, anyone can make these in the home, and a pan grill is perfect. Nothing beats the outdoor grills but it works just as well.

Tomatillo