pan-seared pork chops and hassleback sweet potatoes
Difficulty Rating: 
Not your typical pork chops — these are marinated in a flavorful brine, then pan-seared and served with BBQ herb butter and sweet potatoes.
Ingredients
Pork Brine (see recipe)
4 Chairman’s Reserve® thick cut boneless pork loin chops
Kosher salt
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Pomegranate arils for garnish (optional)
Pork Brine:
1 quart + 1 cup apple juice
½ cup kosher salt
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
4 small bay leaves
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 teaspoons black mustard seeds
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
Sweet Potatoes:
8 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons thyme leaves, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons Cool Smoke BBQ Rub
Juice from 1 lemon
4 large sweet potatoes
Directions
- In a large pot or lidded container, whisk together the apple juice, salt and sugar until dissolved. Stir in the remaining pork brine ingredients and refrigerate 24 hours before using.
- Strain the brine and discard the solids.
- Place the pork loins in a lidded container and pour enough strained brine over to cover. Refrigerate for 4 hours.
- Remove from brine and pat completely dry.
- Make BBQ Herb Butter and cook sweet potatoes (see directions below).
- Season chops with salt and pepper.
- Heat a large cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and heat until shimmering.
- Place chops in pan and brown on both sides (about 3 minutes per side).
- Flip chops one final time and place in the preheated oven with the sweet potatoes to finish cooking until a meat thermometer placed in the thickest part of the loins reads an internal temperature of 140ºF.
- Remove the loin from the heat and let it rest 10 minutes before serving.
- Spoon remaining herb butter over sweet potatoes and serve alongside chops.
- Garnish with pomegranate arils (optional) and fresh thyme.
BBQ Herb Butter & Sweet Potatoes
- In a bowl, stir together butter, thyme leaves, Cool Smoke BBQ Rub and lemon juice. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425ºF.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Cut a series of 1/8-inch slices (2/3 of the way through the sweet potato) along the entire length of each sweet potato.
- Place potatoes on the baking sheet and use ½ of the herb butter to brush over the tops of each potato and making sure to get in between the slices (keep remainder warm for serving).
- Roast until the center of the potatoes are tender and the outside crisp (about 50 minutes to 1 hour). Halfway through the roasting time, remove the potatoes from the oven and use a fork to gently fan out the slices from each other.
Recipe courtesy of pitmaster Tuffy Stone.
