Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Bourbon Butter Pork Chops with Cheesy Potatoes

[FTC Standard Disclosure] I have a business agreement with Oklahoma Joe's; however, it has nothing to do with this blog or my social media.  I received no compensation for this post.

A boatload of good grilling and BBQ books have come out in the past few years.  At the time things were busy, and I didn't get to spend the time cooking them.  Now I'm delving back into these books like these ridiculously good pork chops from the book Praise the Lard by Mike Mills and Amy Mills.


The original recipe was Bourbon-Buttered Reverse Sear Double-Cut Pork Chops.  I only had single-thick chops, so I made it work, I just had to adjust the length of the smoking portion of the cook.  We also made the Cheesy Potatoes recipe from the same book and fire-roasted summer squash. 


The Top Shelf Bourbon Butter melts over the smoky chops creating an intense buttery sauce.  
I made the sides in a large Big Green Egg and did the chops and bacon on the Oklahoma Joe's Bronco drum smoker.



The Bronco is new to Oklahoma Joe's lineup.  I need to do a review post on it, but so far I'm impressed.  It's easy to use, holds temps well, and has longer burn times.  

I loaded the fire bowl with Parker's Tennessee Hardwood Lump Charcoal and a few pieces of applewood for the smoke.  The cool thing about the Bronco is that the fire bowl can be in two different positions - down low for smoking or up high for grilling.

First, I smoked some seasoned bacon for the Cheesy Potatoes recipe.


We bought these sweet Cheshire Pork bone-in rib chops at a local independent grocery store and seasoned them with the Steakhouse Shake recipe from the book.  I'm a fan of Cheshire Pork, I've had consistently good quality chops and spare ribs from them for years.  Plus, having a helluva lot of Tarheel in me, I also love their logo.

The first round was smoking the chops in the Bronco.  Double thick chops would do much better in the smoke because they could stay in the smoke longer, but these still kicked butt.

Meanwhile, I made some sides on a Big Green Egg.  I sliced some zucchini and yellow squash and tossed it in about 3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar, a bit of Dijon, and some Thunderbird Chicken Scratch rub.  Oh yeah, I sprinkled some panko bread crumbs over this.  I put them in the Egg running at 400°f.

I used to hate squash as a kid, but I absolutely love this simple preparation.

The Cheesy Potatoes are a hash brown casserole - creamy, cheesy comfort food.

The heat diffuser for the Bronco flips and serves as a stand for the fire bowl to hold it in a grilling position.  That makes the Bronco great for reverse searing.  

Searing off the chops over lump charcoal and applewood.


As soon as the chops came off, I topped them with the Top Shelf Bourbon Butter.  




Mmmmmm.....Cheesy Potatoes.
  
That butter was so freaking luscious and perfect with a pork chop.  Can't wait to try it on steak too.

It all came together for a fantastic dinner, definitely worth buying the book.