Spicy Pork Chops

Well, truthfully, Ethan is eating dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings tonight. It is "Wing Tuesday," which means the chicken wings are cheap! Besides the cheap wings (we like to call them 'wangs'), Ethan truly loves playing Buzztime Trivia. I was supposed to go with him tonight, but am feeling some allergy/sinus crud. I changed into jammies and glasses at about 6:30 tonight.

But in the fridge, I had some pork chops (boneless) that were getting a little close to their expiration date. I needed to cook them tonight... which means both Ethan and I would have tasty lunches tomorrow.

I'd searched earlier for a simple recipe online to cook the chops, and found a good combination of spices to "rub on" that I'd never tried before. The only spice that was out-of-my-ordinary was Fresh Sage Leaves. I had a little anxiety about finding fresh sage leaves, but turns out my Kroger has lots of fresh-cut spices in the produce department for under $2 a pop*.




Here is the spice combination:



1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 big teaspoon paprika
1-2 tablespoons chopped sage leaves*



Plus you need 4 center-cut boneless pork chops (that aren't frozen).

Use a plate or dish or big bowl to mix up the spices. Stir them up with some olive oil (a splash).

With tongs (or your hands if it doesn't gross you out), rub the chops all over in the spice/olive oil mixture. Be sure to turn each chop over and keep rubbing until the spices are absorbed.



Heat up a skillet (high heat).

Using the tongs, place each chop into the skillet. If there might be some extra spices or oil left, scrape those in there, too.







Leave the chops on the same side for about 2 minutes. Using tongs, flip them over to the other side for another 2 minutes. This sears the edges so that the juices can cook inside.


Then turn down the burner to low-medium. Flip the chops another few times.

Pray that they're done. This is my method. I sometimes overcook because I get nervous about serving undercooked pork.

*The Fresh Sage Leaves I bought were way too much for the recipe. I chopped what I needed and squeezed the rest into a snack-size Ziploc bag, trying to make it airtight. I put it in the freezer. I don't know if this is the correct procedure for leftover fresh herbs. But it's worth a try.