Grilled Pork Feast

Written By Sean McBride

First Course

Spring Butter Lettuce Salad

Tender ribbons of spring butter lettuce tossed with crisp, snapped peas and pickled rhubarb. Dressed lightly in a bright white wine and Dijon vinaigrette sweetened with a touch of maple syrup, and finished with a delicate crunch of Maldon sea salt.

Main Course

Grilled Pasture-Raised Pork Loin Chops

Thick, bone-in pork chops seared over an open flame, pairing savory depth with a vibrant, sweet-and-tangy rhubarb compote infused with honey, red wine vinegar, and the subtle, aromatic warmth of young spring onion and green garlic.

Accompaniments

  • Warm Lemony Potato & Asparagus Salad: Tender new potatoes and snapped asparagus spears, tossed in a bright, zesty lemon dressing.

  • Artisanal Challah: Rich, braided challah bread served warm with unsalted butter to catch every remaining drop of the compote and pan juices.

Drink Pairing

Square Peg Pinot Noir

A beautifully structured, elegant coastal Pinot Noir. Its bright acidity and layered red fruit profiles balance the rich, flame-kissed pork while mirroring the tart, seasonal pop of the fresh rhubarb.

Ingredients

  • Grilled pasture-raised pork loin chops with rhubarb compote

    • Two bone-in pork loin chops

    • Unsalted Butter

    • Basil

    • Salt and pepper

    • Olive oil

    • Rhubarb

    • Honey

    • Red Wine Vinegar

    • Spring onion

    • Green garlic

  • Spring butter lettuce, snap pea, and blueberries with a white wine vinaigrette

    • One bunch whole butter lettuce

    • Pickled rhubarb (vinegar, sugar, maple syrup, peppercorns)

    • One bag of snap peas

    • Spring onion

    • Green garlic

    • Olive oil

    • White wine vinegar

    • Maple syrup

    • Maldon salt

    • Black Pepper

    • Dijon

  • Lemony potato and asparagus salad

  • Challah bread

  • Square peg Pinot noir

Recipe

  • 24 hours ahead of time

    • Vigorously salt and pepper the pork loin. Put on a wire rack uncovered in the fridge.

  • Make the dressings for the salad in a mason jar

    • Green salad: Put ¼ olive oil, one tablespoon white wine vinegar, one tablespoon dijon, one tablespoon maple syrup, a handful of thinly sliced spring onions and green garlic, salt, and pepper into a mason jar. Shake vigorously to emulsify and then put it in fridge.

  • Pickle the rhubarb

    • Chop 3 cups rhubarb into ½ piece chunks and add to a mason jar.

    • In a small sauce pan heat on medium-low one cup water, one cup vinegar, ¾ cup maple syrup, and one tablespoon peppercorns until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

    • Pour over the rhubarb chunks in the mason jars.

    • Let the rhubarb pickle for at least one hour.

    • Put rhubarb you don’t want for the salad into the fridge.

  • Take the Pork Loin out of the fridge ~one hour before putting on the grill. Cut all white fat off the chop.

  • Put the white pork fat, some oil, and some salt into a food processor. Process until smooth. Put in a sealable container.

  • Prepare the salad and put into the fridge

    • Rip up the lettuce into medium sized tears

    • Cut snap peas into halves or thirds at a diagonal

    • Toss together with the pickled rhubarb

    • Leave it undressed

  • Chop the rhubarb for the pork into one inch chunks.

  • Open wine to let aerate.

  • Start grill with one chute of hardwood charcoal using newspapers or paper towels soaked in vegetable oil

  • Sautee the remaining spring onions and green garlic in a little of the pureed pork fat. Add the honey, Red Wine Vinegar, and Rhubarb chunks. Hit it with some twists of salt and pepper. Simmer on low.

  • After charcoal is white on top spread over half of grill to leave one side with indirect heat.

  • Use a butter knife to smear the pork chops with the pork fat.

  • Put room temperature pork loin over indirect heat and set a timer for fifteen minutes. Check it to get it to 115 to 120 degrees.

  • Once the temperature is reached sear on the direct heat for one to two minutes per side.

  • Set on a wooden cutting board over a tablespoon of butter cut into fourths and ripped basil leaves. Cover and let rest for ten minutes.

  • While the pork heats, put a cast iron skillet over direct heat. Add pork fat. Add the leftover potato and asparagus salad and stir regularly every two minutes for eight to ten minutes total.

  • Toss the salad with the dressing, slice the pork chops and cover with a some rhubarb compote, serve the potato and asparagus salad in a bowl, slice challah bread.

  • Pour decanted wine and feast.

Sean McBride
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