Cocoa-Rubbed Pork Chops, a Tuesday Night Home Run

Wow, two meals in a row that I feel are BLOG quality. I wasn't looking to have a meal of this proportion tonight. It all started in Shaws when Noel and I got got pork chops to be just a quick and easy dinner. A little salt, a little pepper, throw them in the broiler and eight to ten minutes later you have a quick meal. When I got home from work today I looked up pork chops on Google and found porkchoprecipes.net. What an excellently little website! Sweet and sour pork chops, pork chops in a white wine sauce (saved that one for later) and many more recipes. I was in pork chop heaven then I saw it; typed across my screen was Cocoa-Rubbed Pork Chops. I mean, I heard the angels sing when I saw this recipe. I had to make it. First, I had to get a few things: Wine (always need wine), onion powder and bacon. I knew that I had to make a great side dish that would go well with the cocoa pork chop, so I came up with a bacon, carrot, brussel sprouts and onion medley and from Far East I made the toasted almond rice pilaf. I didn't have bacon in the house (WTF!?! No bacon in the house? Look its summer, its hot, and the bacon I like at Russo's has been expensive. So back off!) So, I made my way to Savenor's in Beacon Hill. This place has everything. I mean everything- bear, yak, rattlesnake, etc. They also are willing to sell you two lonely pieces of bacon.

What you need:
the pork chops:
2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs onion powder
1 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2-4 thick cut pork chops
the veggies:
5 brussel sprouts cut into quaters
1 large carrot cut 1 inch pieces then cut into quaters
2 cipollini onions cut into quaters
2 slices of bacon minced

First, I started the Far East Toasted Almond Rice Pilaf. It takes about 20 minutes to make, so after I have it started I set a timer for 10 minutes. When the timer went off I started the bacon. After about five minutes I added the carrots. I reset the timer for four minutes and started cooking the pork chops. I took about two tablespoons of fat from the bacon I was cooking with the veggies and warmed it up in a large cast iron skillet. After coating both pork chops, I cooked the chops for four minutes on each side (using a meat thermometer 150 degrees). After I flipped the pork chops, I added the onions and brussel sprouts to the bacon and carrots. After the pork chops finished, I took the rice and pork chops off the heat, gave the meat a few minutes to rest, and let the veggie slowly roast. This meal was a home run!! Sorry, watching the All Star Game. The meat was out of this world. A little spicy cocoa thing going on. The bacon, carrot, brussel sprout mix was awesome!!! I let the carrots cook a long time in the bacon fat and they were the star of the veggie dish. The brussel sprout got a char on them, and in the rice I used a scallion infused olive oil that made the box rice sing!! What a meal for a Tuesday night!!

After I decided that I was going to make this meal, I started thinking about what wine I pair with it. I wasn't quite convinced the grape; I was divided Malbec, Carmenere, Cabernet, or Syrah, so I texted my buddy Chef Timmy for advice. He told me to go with a Malbec because they can have "a nice cocoa tinge to them". So I walked down to Beacon Hill Wine and Spirits in my hood. Nicky was working, so I asked him what Malbec he really likes, and he picked Kaiken from Mendoza. Great pick at $15.99!! Had the nice fresh dark fruit with tobacco and mocha. I don't drink a lot of Argentina Malbec's. I mean, come on, I sell Viu Manent in Chile, and their Reserve Malbec is great, plus I'm kinda of bored with Malbec. But this bottle of wine was a delightful change. It went great with the meal and with the rest of the All Star Game. Go AMERICAN LEAGUE!!