Grilled Pork Chops and Shish Kabobs

Tonight, I tried something kind of new. I thawed some pork chops yesterday. When they were completely thawed, I poked a bunch of holes in them with a fork, placed them in a sealable plastic bag, and then poured marinade/salad dressing in the bag. I sealed the bag then and worked the marinade around the inside of the bag to try to get it evenly distributed over all the surfaces of the chop. One of the chops was soaking in Roasted Red Pepper Italian with Parmesan by Kraft. The other two were soaking in Garden Tomato and Bacon marinade by Hidden Valley. I know that this is kind of cheating, but I haven't learned enough--and isn't learning a long and continual process?--to make my own marinades. Someday, I'll get around to that facet of cooking, but for now, I'll borrow someone else's genius. I hope I'm forgiven!

I also made vegetable shish kabobs for a side. I realize that it sounds like that wasn't a big meal. Pork Chops and shish kabobs?!? That's all? Both Pop and I don't really have huge appetites so it works for us. To make the shish kabobs, I sliced a small red potato very thinly--a little smaller than 1/4 inch--into six slices. I figured that would be best because potatoes take so long to cook. I also added some carrots. I cut it into about three inch sections and then halved those. I cut an apple into 6 sections. And I then cut an onion into six slices. I took a big foot long section of aluminum foil and lay it down on the counter in order to put the finished kabobs until it was time to put them on the grill. I then put the veggies on a wooden kabob sticks in this order: potato, carrot, apple, and onion--twice. Of course, you can use whatever veggies you want and in whatever order you want! ;-P

When all the food was prepared, I got the grill going. I placed aluminum on the grill and laid the three chops onto it and allowed whatever juices were left in the bag to drip onto the chops, hopefully giving them some more flavor. On the other side of the grill, I placed the three kabobs--encased in the 12-inch aluminum foil. The chops were starting to cook. I took a grill brush and swept over the veggies with Tangy Bacon Catalina marinade by Kraft. I turned them twice during cooking and brushed them with the marinade each time. Then I just let everything cook. When it was all done, dinner was served! It was pretty delicious, if I am allowed to say so for myself.

Here are my thoughts on the results of this experiment: Overall, pretty good! Very tasty! I liked the Kraft Red Roasted Pepper Italian marinade best on the pork chops. The other was was good, but the Italian one was just a little bit more flavorful.

Regarding the shish kabobs: FANTASTIC! Especially the apples and the onions. The apples were A-mazing. So Yummy. Especially when hot. The last bites of apple were still delicious, but just a little less good than they were in the beginning. The onions were very tasty, too, when combined with the marinade. And--strangely--when I speared a piece of apple and onion TOGETHER and popped 'em in my mouth, it was ambrosia. Wow!

On the down side, I guess I didn't slice the potatoes thinly enough because they were still kinda crunchy. The carrots were also a little crunchy, but not as much as the potatoes. As far as the carrots go, i don't mind the cruncy cuz I like crunchy carrots. And really, the potatoes weren't UN-delicious. The not-quite-done nature of the potatoes made them a little less delicious.

Overall, I feel like the whole endeavor was a success. I enjoyed being creative in the kitchen and doing the actual cooking on the grill myself. And, I enjoyed the outcome on my tongue!

Yum! I imagine that the same meal can be a completely different one if different marinades are tried. If you try it, I sure hope ya enjoy it! Let me know how it goes.

Love,

Lolly Fabulous :)