bacon-wrapped pork chops

ah, spring...beautifully warm weather, windows open, hummingbird feeder installed, and bacon-wrapped pork chops.

i mean, what else would you have for dinner??

seriously though, i haven't cooked anything particularly exciting recently, so i decided to play with my kitchen today and make it smell nice.  there were some nice pork chops on sale at the grocery store earlier in the week, and i decided adding bacon can't be wrong.

this particular experiment took me about 15 minutes to prepare and about 40 minutes to cook.  total time to the plate can be under an hour, but i wrapped the chops earlier in the afternoon and left them in the fridge to let the spices infuse the meat.

with steamed broccoli and rice (cunningly flavored with garlic powder and rosemary), this made a wonderful dinner.

 

ingredients:
- bone-in pork chops (i would estimate about 1/2 pound apiece)
- bacon (not thick cut)
- brown sugar
- seasonings (jamaican jerk seasoning, tarragon, oregano, black pepper, garlic salt, paprika)

preparation:
spread some brown sugar on top of the pork chops (i used just enough to cover the top).  sprinkle liberal amounts of seasonings on, and pat the mixture into the meat.  wrap each pork chop in bacon (it took about four slices apiece to fully cover the chop).  apply more black pepper, oregano, and paprika to the outsides.

brown chops on stovetop (medium-high) for approximately three minutes on a side.  transfer meat to an oven-safe pan and bake (covered) at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes.  remove aluminum foil and increase heat to 425°F for approximately 10 minutes.  there was a lot of juice (well...probably bacon grease).

 verdict:
when cooking, this food smelled wonderful; i think oregano is just about my favorite herb, and it always makes the kitchen  smell nice.  that said, with the brown sugar, i didn't get nearly the fiery flavor of the jamaican jerk seasoning as i expected -- it could have used some extra heat.

additionally, although the pork chops had a nice pink smoky ring on the exterior (presumably from the bacon), portions of the bacon didn't get quite crispy enough.  i probably need to pre-cook some of the bacon...brown it up in the pan and wrap the chops when the bacon is halfway done.

would do again!