Barbecue Rubbed Pork Chops

These Barbecue Rubbed Pork Chops from Cooking Light are a staple in my house. They make for a quick weeknight meal and are very juicy and flavorful. I stock up my freezer with pork chops when they are on sale, and I have all of the other ingredients in my pantry so the lack of planning required is a big bonus for me. The only changes I make to the recipe are that I add extra brown sugar if I'm in the mood to make it a little sweeter or extra ground red pepper if I want something spicier, I add more rub each time I turn the meat, and if I have onions on hand I slice them up and grill them with the meat and rub.

I usually serve this with the grilled sweet potatoes from this post or just microwave a sweet potato (poke some holes with a fork and microwave 5 minutes, flip it over and cook for 5 more minutes), but tonight I wanted to make whatever side I could find at the small farmers market outside of my building. So red potatoes and random ingredients from my fridge resulted in mashed red potatoes with spinach and mascarpone cheese. The recipe is below.

Salt-Crusted Standing Rib Roast & Gouda Mashed Potatoes

The last time we were in California, my sister-in-law made us an epic meal; Prime Rib with Horseradish Sauce, Gouda Mashed Potatoes, and a salad.  When rib roast was on sale at the store this weekend, I couldn't pass it up.  While I'm not sure if I ended up with the right cut of meat, it turned out pretty well.


The Salt-Crusted Rib Roast recipe she sent me looks like it was copied from a magazine in December 2009.  I'm not sure what magazine, but the recipe is below.


Ingredients
2 Cups of Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Peppercorn Melange, Cracked
1 TB of Dried Rosemary
1/3 Cup of Water
1 Small End Rib Roast, with 4 Ribs, Back Strap, Chine Bone and Feather Bones removed (The recipe says 8-10 lbs, I bought 6 lbs)


Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray
- Combine salt, peppercorns, and rosemary in a mixing bowl.  Slowly whisk in water until it becomes slush
- Pat beef dry; place rib roast, skin side down in baking dish.
- Rub salt mixture all over roast, making a coating 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
- Insert an oven proof thermometer into the thickest part of the roast
- Place roast in oven and immediately turn oven temperature to 325.  Roast meat until thermometer reads 135 degrees for medium rare, 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 hours (it took my smaller cut about 2 hours)
- Remove roast from oven and tent with foil for 15 minutes
- Remove the salt crust before serving


The Gouda Mashed Potatoes recipe is from food.com.  I didn't peel the potatoes, which is a shortcut I usually take when making mashed potatoes.


For the horseradish sauce mix together 1/2 cup of sour cream, 4 TB of horseradish, salt, pepper, and a juice from half a lemon.


Did I mention that I like red meat?