Grilled Porkchop with Garlic Jam

I am Kei, Nikki's sister. She asked me to blog about the food I cooked for dinner. I am actually a guest blogger here, so expect to read posts from me every now and then.

I was scouring the internet for some recipes the other day. I dropped by the Food Network website and saved every single recipe, which I thought is easy and whose ingredients are available at home and at the grocery.

Most of the recipes I found involve chicken. Then, I got this one from Chef Emeril Lagasse, called Grilled Porkchop with Garlic Jam. I thought, "What in the world is garlic jam?" I only know fruit jams, but I haven't heard of garlic jam or whatever it is made of. Seeing that I have the ingredients at home, I decided to try cooking it. I added a Filipino touch to it by putting a pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap. I also made an additional Garlic Mayo Dip to give my family two options as to what to pair with the grilled porkchops.

Since Filipino chops are way smaller than the American ones, I used 5 porkchops and cut down the ingredients into smaller portions.

Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic Jam

Ingredients

• 4 thick-cut pork chops (I used 5)
• Canola oil
• Essence, recipe follows
• Garlic Jam , recipe follows
  

Preheat a grill to medium-high. Brush pork chops with oil and season with Essence. Place pork on grill and grill on both sides until a meat thermometer reaches 150 to 155 degrees F. Serve pork chops with garlic jam.

Garlic Jam

• 4 large heads garlic (1 1/2)
• 1/2 cup olive oil (1/4 c)
• 1/4 of a sweet onion
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Bring a medium saucepan with salted water to a boil. Cut the garlic heads in half crosswise and blanch for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic heads and any loose garlic cloves from the water with a slotted spoon and drain well. Pour olive oil into a small baking dish and place the garlic heads cut side down into the oil. Add any loose garlic cloves and the onion quarter to the oil. Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour.

Remove the garlic from the oil and squeeze the softened garlic cloves into a medium bowl. Peel the onion quarter and finely dice. Add the diced onion to the garlic cloves and mash with a fork until smooth. Stir the Worcestershire and lemon juice into the mashed garlic and continue stirring until smooth and creamy. Season with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. The garlic jam will keep refrigerated in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

Emeril's ESSENCE Creole Seasoning (also referred to as Bayou Blast):

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika (1 1/2 tbsp)
• 2 tablespoons salt (1 tbsp)
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder (1 tbsp)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon onion powder (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano (1 tsp)
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme (1 tsp)
• pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

Kei's Garlic Mayo Dip:

• 1 sachet of mayonnaise
• 2 tsps garlic powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• pinch of Maggi Magic Sarap
  

Combine all ingredients thoroughly.

The grilled porkchops had a smokey taste because of the dry rub. We could actually taste the oregano and thyme.

The combination of garlic and sweet onion resulted to a sweet and spicy taste. It also had a bit of tanginess because of the lemon juice.

Grilled porchops with Kei's garlic mayo dip

My version of garlic mayo dip, garnished with parsley

My family loved what I cooked, especially the garlic jam. I'm really looking forward to cooking it again in the coming days.