grilling up a storm!

It was getting a little dark on my way home from work tonight. By the time I got the grill lit, thunder was rumbling loudly and lightning was snapping. I was on my way out load the grill up with goodies when the skies opened up!! We had sheets of rain and even hail for a good 30 minutes or so. It was intense...and the whole time, all I wanted was to get out to the grill to get my food on.

I wanted to do something different with my pork chops tonight. I came up with the following Ginger Garlic Soy Pork Chops:



Ingredients:

4 boneless pork loin chops
1" of fresh ginger root, grated
3 cloves of garlic, grated
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
juice of half a lemon

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, making sure that all sides of the meat get some marinade. Let the meat sit while you light the grill and let heat to medium high (about 20 minutes). When grill is ready, place chops on, brushing with more marinade if desired. I cook mine for about 4 minutes each side so that they remain just slightly pink in the middle (and don't dry out). Remove from grill and let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

While I had the grill going, I figured I'd try some grilled peaches. For these, I just split a couple of peaches, put them on the hot grill and let them cook for about 7 minutes each side until soft. I served them with a scoop of ricotta cheese and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. The reduction is simply 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of balsamic, and the juice from half a lemon, all mixed and boiled until reduced down by half. The smell it made whilst cooking was amazing - sharp, sweet and rich. I ended up reducing it down a little too far and so it turned into sort of a gooey caramel type thing, but it still tasted awesome. Next time, I'd skip the ricotta in favor of some creme fraiche or even greek yogurt.