Recipes

Vanilla Dry Rub Pork Chops

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops (About ¼ inch thick)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 vanilla bean split lengthwise

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

2 tablespoons vegetable oil (preferably vanilla oil)

Preparation:

Place the pork chops in a glass container and set aside. Combine salt, paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, dried thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, ground cinnamon, cloves, and allspice in a small bowl. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds. Put the seeds in the meat and sprinkle it with the dry rub. Make sure the meat gets seasoned all over it sprinkling the dry rub two or three times.

Heat the oil in a large skillet at a medium-high temperature. Put the pork chops and let them cook about 2-3 minutes. Turn them around to cook the other side and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add more oil if needed. Let them cook for about 3-4 minutes until the juice runs clear. Since they are thin, they should cook fairly quickly. Remove from heat and serve warm.

For a complete meal you can combine this recipe with the elbow fennel pasta.

Note: The vanilla bean in this recipe is to enhance the sweet flavors of the dry rub ingredients.