Brined BBQ Pork Chops, Grilled Cherry Tomatoes and Nugget Potatoes

Happy 152nd  Birthday 🍁 Canada!  My son and I were both home today so enjoyed a nice day off with each other.  I found these beautiful one inch thick centre cut chops.  They were cheap too, 2 for under $6.  So, I did a brine and let them sit in the fridge for a couple of hours.

For the brine,  I used 1/4 cup of kosher salt, 4 cups of water, a handful of peppercorns, 2 cloves of smashed garlic, 1 bay leaf,  2 tablespoons organic unrefined coconut sugar, 1 chile de arbol pod and a few sprigs of fresh thyme.  I boiled this just for a minute to combine the flavors and then let it cool.

When it was, I poured in a large Ziploc over the chops.  I sealed the bag and put it in the fridge.

When it was time to grill, I rinsed the chops and patted them dry with paper towels.  I lightly brushed olive oil over them and seasoned with kosher salt (light on the salt) and fresh cracked pepper.  I was shooting for the thermometer read 145ºF.

The nuggets I did in a foil pack, sliced thin with some onion, unsalted pats of butter and S&P.  I sealed it up and put this on as soon as the BBQ was preheated.

The tomatoes I drizzled with Extra virgin olive oil and S&P.  I was very careful with them as I hoped they wouldn't fall off the vine.  I put them on a grill rack for vegetables on the top grill.  These went on last, with about 10 - 15 minutes left of cook time.

Everything came off together and then it was time to plate.  I garnished with fresh parsley.

This was soooooo delicious!  The brine was perfect and that thick chop was tender and moist, even though I cooked it to 150ºF by mistake.  The taters were crisp and soft and the tomatoes were sweet and blistered.  Below was my son's with less tomatoes and BBQ sauce.