Grilled Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade

Flush from the success of the Shrimp with Toasted Almonds and Garlic Confit, I continue my experiment in cleaning out the refrigerator. We had some beautiful bone in pork chops that desired a turn on the grill.

It was a wonderful Friday night. Groom mixed some Silver Bullets (shaken, not stirred) to celebrate two more days of work before ten glorious days at the beach and once again I turned to the fridge to decide what to do with those porkers.

I remembered a Bobby Flay recipe from years ago that used roasted yellow pepper sauce with a pork tenderloin, so it stood to reason that this would work beautifully with the chops.

And it did.

Silver Bullets ..love these Martinis!

Fill a shaker with ice and one cup Grey Goose Vodka.
Then 3 capfuls of Bombay Sapphire Gin.
And finally 1 capful Noilly Prat dry vermouth.

Put the top on and shake your groove thing around the kitchen along with the martinis.

Strain into up glasses, plop an oversized green olive in it, and enjoy.
Makes three martinis.


Grilled Bone In Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade
Adapted from Bobby Flay’s From My Kitchen to Your Table

Black Olive Tapenade

¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1-¼ cup pitted Nicoise olives
1 tbsp garlic confit (or 4 fat garlic cloves, peeled)
4 anchovy fillets
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Put pine nuts, olives, garlic, anchovies and olive oil in food processor and pulse off and on til thick but not mush. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.

Makes about 1-½ cups.

Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce

2 yellow bell peppers, charred, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 tbsp garlic confit or 5 fat garlic cloves, peeled and coarsely chopped
Good pinch Spanish saffron
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp coarse Dijon mustard
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

In blender, combine peppers, vinegar, garlic, saffron, honey and mustard and blend. With motor running slowly add the olive oil until it emulsifies. Season to taste with coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Makes about 1-½ cups.

The Chops

2 good sized bone in pork chops, about 1-½ inches thick
1 tbsp sweet Spanish paprika
1 tbsp ground ancho chili powder
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix the spices together and rub on both sides of the pork chops. Grill chops 5-6 minutes per side.

Plate with the Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce on the bottom, chop and top with a spoonful of the Tapenade.

You will have extra sauce to save and use another time!

Grilled Pork Chops with Roasted Yellow Pepper Sauce and Black Olive Tapenade