Grilled Dijon-Horseradish Pork Chops

August 7, 2012
This past weekend in the Sarcastic Cooking household had a very somber note to it. It was the official last weekend of my husband’s summer vacation, which also means summer mentality is over for me too.
Womp, womp.
We had planned to go to the zoo or maybe a new brewery in the city to cap the summer off on Friday. However, life had other plans. In between waiting for deliveries and hemming and hawing over driving into the city during rush hour, we kind of lost our ambition to do anything.
I am sure you all have had those days where you make big plans and nothing seems to go right, so you just give up. Isn’t there a saying about mice and men and best laid plans going astray? English major friends, help me out!
Anyway, before we just plain old gave up, put on sweats, started another season of Dexter, and ordered a pizza, we both threw the same idea out there. We just went to our favorite local beer garden—nice and shady with huge blowing fans to keep you cool, even on the hottest of days.
We enjoyed each other’s company and conversation over probably the last Summer Shandy’s we will drink this summer. We watched a little of the Olympics, then headed home. Not the excitement level we were looking for, but still a great night.
Saturday, we attended a friend’s wedding. Weddings are always a fun time and are always a staple of our summers. This one was even more fun because we got to spend time with a few of our dear friends who live kind of far away.  It’s nice to spend time with people that we don’t have the luxury of seeing all the time.
You all know how sometimes after a wedding and staying the night in a hotel you wake up the next morning and even a Gatorade and a cool shower won’t revive you? Well, we didn’t want that to affect our last day of summer vacation, so we were a bit worried. Luckily, we woke and felt great.
Not gonna lie, though.  A little fruit punch Gatorade never hurt anybody!
Sunday ended up being the perfect antithesis of summer all wrapped up in one day. We drank some lemonade and fired up the grill. Mike grilled my favorite Dijon-Horseradish Pork Chops. I made an heirloom tomato salad with fresh tomatoes from my parents’ garden. We sat outside and enjoyed a nice night going over all the highlights from our summer.
We stayed up so late Sunday night just talking. I guess it is that little kid mentality: “If I don’t go to bed, Monday won’t come.” Sadly, it did, and unfortunately, both of us were dragging our butts this morning.
We may have not got to do everything we wanted on our last weekend of summer, but it will still be remembered as all I wanted from that last sweet sip of my summer!
Ingredients (Serves 2 – 4)
4, Boneless Trimmed Pork Loin Chops
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Prepared Horseradish
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest
1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Pepper
Combine the Dijon, horseradish, olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Give the marinade a quick whisk to combine and then transfer the marinade to a large gallon size plastic storage bag or dish in which you want to marinade the pork chops in.
Make sure each pork chop is coated in a bit of marinade. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour to marinate.
When you are ready to eat, turn the grill to medium/high heat. Let the pork chops sit at room temperature while you allow the grill to heat up for a few minutes.
Place each pork chop on the hot oiled grill. Grill on each side for approximately six minutes. In between each flip, try and brush on a little more of the marinade.
Serve these chops right away with a nice summer salad or vegetable option. Pork chops will last wrapped in foil or in an air tight container for four days under refrigeration.

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  • Cheryl M.
    June 22, 2015 at 6:03 pm

    You use the marinade even though you had raw chops in it? This always makes me nervous! Please clarify ~ the recipe sounds delicious!

    • Stefanie
      June 22, 2015 at 7:05 pm

      Yes, I brushed on some more of the extra marinade in between flips. The grilling temperature should be enough to make sure no bacteria stick around. If it makes you nervous though, the sauce should be thick enough that you don’t need to add on the extra in between flips.

    • Val
      January 24, 2016 at 3:08 pm

      While still cooking on the grill

  • DB-The Foodie Stuntman
    August 7, 2012 at 11:17 pm

    Next time, try bone-in pork chops. The bone gives your meat more flavor.

    • Stefanie
      August 8, 2012 at 9:24 am

      I normally prefer the bone-in pork chops as well, but I got these guys for free… sooooo. I had to use them!