Adobo-Rubbed Pork Chops with Pico de Gallo

Pork chops were on the menu this week, and we wanted to do something new with them. We both liked this recipe on the Epicurious web site for Adobo-Rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Black Bean Pico de Gallo.

We used boneless pork chops instead of pork tenderloin, and made my traditional Pico de Gallo instead of the pico on the recipe that called for black beans.

Below is the part of the recipe we followed (we cut the recipe to three servings; below are ingredients for six) -

Ingredients

• 6 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp coarse salt
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (omitted this as we didn't have any on hand)
• 3 pinches cayenne pepper
• 24 oz pork tenderloin, trimmed, cut into 3- to 4-oz pieces (we used 3 boneless pork chops)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In small bowl, mix paprika, black pepper, salt, chili powder, sugar, and cayenne.
• Rub both sides of each tenderloin piece with spice mixture.
• Preheat oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat and pan-sear pieces until golden brown on both sides.
• Transfer to oven until done (6 to 8 minutes for each inch of thickness). The chops took about 12 minutes - we tested them with an oven thermometer to make sure they were done (160 degrees).
• Top pork with the pico and serve

These chops were nicely seared on the outside and perfectly juicy on the inside. The pico was a nice, refreshing topping.