I opened up the freezer on Sunday night looking for things I could use to make for dinner this week and I was able to come up with a few ideas for some meals, including this one I found Cook’s Country. I am always a little leery of doing pork chops on the grill because if you don’t watch them closely you end up with burnt shoe leather as your meal. This recipe lays everything out quite easily and is a fast meal, so you can grill this up any night of the week for dinner with just a few ingredients.

Grilled Honey-Glazed Pork Chops

4 (10-ounce) bone-in pork rib or center-cut chops, about 1-inch thick, trimmed

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1/4 cup honey

1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Cut 2 slits about 2 inches apart through the fat and connective tissue around the outside of each pork chop. Combine the sugar, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Pat the chops dry with paper towels and rub all over with the sugar mixture.

Whisk the vinegar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan until there are no lumps remaining. Stir in the honey, mustard, thyme and cayenne pepper and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the glaze is reduced to about 1/4 cup, about 5 to 7 minutes.

If you are using a charcoal grill, open the bottom vent completely. Light a chimney starter filled with charcoal briquettes. When the top coals are partially covered with ash, pour two-thirds of the coals evenly over the grill, then pour the remaining coals over half the grill. Set the cooking grate in place, cover and open the lid vent completely. Heat the grill until it is hot, about 5 minutes.

If you are using a gas grill, turn on all the burners and set them to high, cover the grill and heat the grill until it is hot, about 15 minutes. Leave the primary burner on high and the other burner(s) to medium-low.

Clean and oil the  cooking grate. Place the chops on the cool part of the grill and cook (covered if you are using a gas grill) until the meat registers 140 degrees, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Brush the tops of the pork chops with the glaze and grill, glazed side down, over the hot part of the grill until it is caramelized, about 1 minute. Repeat the process with the second side of the pork chops. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and rest for five to ten minutes.

While the pork chops are resting, there is no better way to make use of some of those peaches you have in season this time of year by grilling them up. Grilled peaches test phenomenal and take just a few minutes to cook, so this gives you the perfect opportunity to throw a couple on the grill.

Grilled Peaches

4 ripe medium peaches

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Cut the peaches in half and remove the pit. Drizzle each half with the maple syrup and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Grill skin side up for 3 minutes until the peaches have begun to caramelize and soften.

Of course, you don’t have to serve the peaches with your meal. You could make them for dessert and serve them with some ice cream or yogurt and you have a nice dessert. To me, they went quite nicely with the pork chops though. The chops were great and using the sugar mixture on them before putting any glaze on them really helped to keep the glaze in place and helped to brown the chops nicely. I served this dish with some green beans, wild rice, the peaches and I even toasted up a little garlic bread on the grill as well.

That’s all I have for today. Check back again later in the week for some more recipes. I’ll be posting a lighter version of a beer battered fish with roasted sweet potato fries, I plan to try my hand at some ciabatta bread if I get the time, and I also have the recipe for a wonderful looking lemon icebox pie to try out. Check back and see what comes up next. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!