Garlic Thyme Pork Chops and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

I picked up some very nice thick cut pork chops at my local butchers this weekend. I wanted to try something new and different, so I went to that giant cookbook on the web Google and search for Pork Chop Recipe. One popped up from
the Better Homes and Gardens web site that looked interesting, Garlic Thyme Pork Chops. More importantly, I had all the ingredients! 

I was craving to have some nice mashed potatoes with the chops but being on a low carb kick, I decided to try something else new, garlic mashed cauliflower. After scanning the web for various recipes, I decided to try and whip some up with what I had in the fridge. I took one good sized head of cauliflower and cut into small pieces to fit into a large glass mixing bowl. I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and microwaved it on high for 11 minutes. The plastic wrap traps in the steam and helps cook the cauliflower. You want the cauliflower to be nice and soft. Once cooked, place the cauliflower in a food
processor and add in the garlic, cream cheese, butter, pepper and parmesan cheese and process until creamy.

While the cauliflower was cooking, I brought the wine to a boil in a sauce pan so it would reduce to about half its volume. After several minutes I added in the arrowroot dissolved in water to thicken the wine. This should be cooked for two minutes at a boil to properly thicken. Take off the heat and add the olive oil, garlic, thyme, pepper and salt. I kept this warm as a cooked the pork chops.

I fired up the old Weber Genesis B gas grill (a wonderful cooking machine) and oiled the grates in preparation for the pork chops. The chops were seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder. After the grill was good and hot I put the chops on and closed the lid. After about 3 minutes you want to turn them about 45 degrees to get those classic grill marks. I let the chops cook for another 5 minutes before turning them over and repeating the grill mark trick on the other side. I backed the heat down to medium and let the chops cook while I attended to the sauce and cauliflower. As the chops got close to being ready I began basting them with the garlic thyme sauce I had made. Turning every couple of minutes to baste theother side. I repeated this until the sauce was gone. Using my instant read thermometer, I cooked the chops to an internal temperature of 150 and removed them from the grill. I let them rest while I brought the rest of the food to the table. 

I was surprised at how little impact the sauce had on the chops flavor. They were good but not a strong taste of garlic or thyme. It could be I basted them too early in the process and most of the sauce caramelized on the chops losing its flavor. The big surprise was how wonderful the garlic mashed cauliflower was. My whole family thought it was great. A dish that is sure to be repeated.

All in all an enjoyable dinner but I think I will experiment more with the sauce next time. Most likely replacing the thyme with rosemary and not putting it on the chops till the very end of the grilling.

 
Garlic-Thyme Sauce

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