Grilled Pork Chops With Apple, Bacon And Onion

This was such a delicious dinner that A cooked the other night – it was hot, Hot, HOT, and we were dreading turning on the stove to make dinner.

Using the outdoor grill to cook the chops and then serving them with a salad was a no-brainer.

And it worked perfectly.

This recipe is both Paleo and AIP-friendly if you omit the black pepper.

Don’t be put off by the fact that this recipe serves 6 people.  If you need to feed fewer, just use fewer pork chops – one per person is ideal.  The apple bacon and onion mixture is also easy to scale down, but I would not bother – it tastes delicious with all sorts of other meats, or even on its own, and is just as good cold from the fridge as it is hot.

Grilled Pork Chops With Apple, Bacon And Onion

serves 6

• 6 pork loin chops (about 6oz each)
• sea salt to taste
• a small amount of melted coconut oil to brush the meat
• 2 large onions – sliced
• 6 rashers of bacon – sliced
• 2 large apples – cored and sliced
• leaves from 1 sprig of fresh rosemary – chopped
• leaves from 1 sprig of fresh sage – chopped
• leaves from 1-2 sprigs of fresh thyme – chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic – crushed

Preheat your grill to a medium high temperature.

While the grill is heating, take the chops and brush them with a little coconut oil.  Season well with salt.

Place the chops on the grill, and cook for 5-7 minutes on each side until the chops have an internal temperature of 77°C/170°F.  If you have got the temperature of the grill just right, you should have some lovely sear marks on the meat.

Remove the chops from the grill and keep warm.

Now you need to place your cast iron skillet directly on the grill and turn the heat up a bit.

Add the bacon to the pan and allow to cook down and release it’s fat.  Add the onions to the bacon fat and saute until starting to brown a little.  Add in the apples, the herbs and the garlic and cook until everything is soft, and gently caramelized.  This should take no more than 5-10 minutes, by which time the chops will have rested.

Serve the apple, onion and bacon mixture along with the grilled pork chops.

I like to serve this with a brightly coloured salad such as my Lacto-Fermented Beet And Carrot Salad.

If you do not have an outside grill, you could easily cook these chops on the stove on a grill-pan.