Pork

Ingredients

2 bone-in pork chops (6-8oz each)

1 maple grilling plank

1/3 c. India Pale Ale

¼ c. maple syrup

¼ c. balsamic vinegar

Method

Soak. Soak Outdoor Gourmet grilling plank in water for one or more hours, the longer the better. Use something heavy to weigh the plank down as it soaks to keep it completely submerged.

Reduce. Make glaze by reducing beer, maple syrup and vinegar on the stovetop until it thickens to half its original volume.

Sear. Preheat grill to 400ºF. Place the pork chops on grill bone down and cook for 3 minutes. Sear the pork chops for 1-2 minutes on all sides.

Ribs in all their glory with the direct smoky flavor from the grilling planks.

1 rack of baby back ribs (beef or pork)

your favorite dry spice-salt rub

1 15"x7" hickory grilling plank (or 2 smaller grilling planks, you can cut the rack of ribs to fit.)

THE NIGHT BEFORE

* Trim off silver sinew and excess fat. Place rib rack on foil.
* Select dry spice-salt rub and apply liberally to the ribs.
* Wrap in foil and place in the refrigerator overnight.
* Soak an Outdoor Gourmet Grilling plank in water overnight.

AT MEAL PREP TIME

* Pre-heat grill on high.
* Place the ribs on the plank and place plank on...

I do this strange thing- I'll open up the fridge and stare intently into the depths. Nothing will pique my interest, so I wander off, only to be back in that same spot 10 minutes later. Again, I assess the contents of the refrigerator- oddly enough, nothing has changed. There is still a couple red potatoes, two carrots, celery, and a bit of wilty-looking basil. And a cured ham that I bought "just 'cause" about a week ago. Hmmm. What to do... soup! We're gonna plank that ham and make a Cold Weather Ham and Potato Chowder. Quick- go get an Outdoor Gourmet Cedar Grilling Plank soaking. It needs to be in the water for at least an...

Outdoor Gourmet presents...

Cedar Planked Pork Chops with Thmye and Italian Prunes

Usufruct: the legal right to use and/or derive benefit from property that belongs to another person without destroying it. From the Latin ususfructus, which literally means to enjoy fruits or profits.

I am especially interested in this law as it applies to fruit trees.

That's right, it is legal to collect (drive benefit from) fruit from trees or bushes that obviously aren't being harvested... and obviously aren't yours. And oh man, I have I been getting my usufruct on. (i.e.- prowling the side streets and alleys- basket in hand- in search...

In the winter, I'm all about citrus. Everything from my Mulled Wine to my Hefeweizens have orange sections floatin' around in 'em and lemon or lime zest sneak in or on top of all my recipes. It also seems that I go through about a case of the Cutie mandarins once a week and I get giddy at the sight of really nice grapefruits at the market. If I were an Otter Pop, I would be Sir Isaac Lime... I think you get the point about how much I love citrus.

When the idea of a Planked Pulled Pork Sandwich was presented to me, I said "Ooooh, with orange barbecue sauce. Let's do it." So, I off I went to the store to get supplies, but I...