Basil and Garlic Pork Chops

It's totally ingrained in me to make a Sunday dinner.I have memories of it even back to when I was super young back in England. A hunk of roast, and roasted potatoes golden from drizzled butter. But there's no potato for me these days now replaced with sweet potato.I have now made a roast for my family many times.There's something about that familiar smell throughout the house that just feels so comfortable, makes a house feel like a home.
With that all said , no roast today. But I did want a dinner with all the drippins'!Honestly I forgot to pick up the roast because I got distracted by extra thick pork chops. They just screamed "Grill Me!". I said, "OK."

One component of the Sunday roast is the cloves of garlic placed into the roast. So garlic has to be used today, and well its garlic, it speaks for itself.  I was also craving basil, I know crazy, craving a herb.  I'm thinking these two need to be together stuck on with some lime juice. Why the heck not! The lime is really going to set these apart from any other pork chop recipe. A nice refreshing change for a Sunday dinner in July.

Hmmm... sides... thats a no brainer. Broccoli with bacon. Roasted of course. Since it's Sunday dinner I will get crazy and add some sweet potato fries. I like wedges, but theres something about the thin crispier fries drizzled with bacon too.

The quantities in this recipe is just for my husband and I. This one is really just sprinkling herbs and spices, so everything will be: "to taste" for measurements. But below is what I used to start, I am a garlic and basil addict so I used more of everything.

Basil and Garlic Pork Chops (for two)
2- 1 inch thick (or more) pork chops
1/2 a lime juiced
2 tablespoons Basil (fresh is better)
2 minced garlic gloves (more if you love garlic)
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Squeeze lime juice over your chops.  Spread your minced garlic over your chops, and sprinkle on the Basil. Now let sit in an airtight container to marinade for 30 minutes.

Best on a grill! 5-10 minutes each side depending on the thickness of your chops.

Roasted Broccoli and Bacon
There are several ways to do these, I keep it pretty simple. I place my broccoli in a bowl, and sprinkle in chopped bacon and sea salt.Then I hand toss it to make sure the broccoli is coated. Tonight though, garlic will be added. For roasting you need to add your choice of lard, or oil while you mix the ingredients. Place on tray in a 400 degree oven. Do not stack, make sure they are in one single layer. For an even roast rotate every 10 minutes or so. Should take about 30-35 minutes. The edges of the Broccoli should be lightly browned, and the bacon crisp.

Apple Butter Crock Pot Pork Chops

I wanted a more flavorful crock pot recipe. Sometimes just the basic toss-ins doesn't feel like I am doing much. Regardless that my cream of chicken is my own "Cream of Something" and not from a can, or my Taco Seasoning isn't from a packet. I have really been crocking this month just to free up some time right now, and it's really great freezer food for lunches.

I found this little diddy @ The Frugal Foodie Mama. I didn't have all the exact ingredients, see my notes. But this was amazing, it was so flavorful. I wish I made the full amount, I would of loved to have had this for lunch the next day.

What you will need:

4 pork chops (bone-in or boneless)*

1 medium onion, chopped

3 medium apples (any kind), cored and chopped

1 cup apple butter**

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp whole grain Dijon mustard***

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 cup apple juice or cider (or white wine)

• In a small bowl, whisk together the apple butter, brown sugar, vinegar, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and apple juice.  Set aside.

• Place the apples and onions in the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Add your pork chops on top and then pour the apple butter mixture all over this.

• Cook on Low for 5-6 hours.

* I do recommend using boneless. I cut the bone off mine. Because crock pot cooking makes the meat so tender at you scoop it out the bone falls off into all your goodies. VERY hard to find, and dangerous.

** Recipe for Crock Pot Apple Butter *NOM NOM*

***I didn't have any Dijon, I had some coarse ground mustard.

I was posed a question about how to make it all look good. Some times I like to show off and make a presentation of my meal. Crock pot meal are a bit more tricky. I like to first scoop out the extras and make a bed. Then using a slotted spoon to lift the the meat onto it's new bed. If not cooking potatoes in your meal, or you are doing rice you can add to the side or around the extras. A lot of the time I like to shred all y meat and just serve it up with a side of my homemade bread.