Bourbon-Marinated Pork Chops with Cheese Grits

Chef Peter Berley, James Beard Award–winning author of The Flexitarian Table, offers up a meal with fast-food prep times and fine-dining flavor.

By Sarah Rose

At Home:
-For your brine, boil 1 cup water with 1/3 cup sugar, 3 tbsp salt, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, a few bay leaves, and a couple of sprigs of rosemary or sage. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes in a large bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup bourbon and 4 additional cups water. Add salt and sugar mixture. (Spices and alcohol help preserve the meat.)

-Place 4 pork chops (10 to 11 oz each, 1.25-inch thick) or 2 trimmed pork tenderloins (1 lb each) into the brine, weighting them so they’re fully submerged. Refrigerate for 12 hours.

-Remove the pork chops from brine, pat dry, wrap well in plastic wrap, and place in a Ziploc bag. Freeze overnight, and when they thaw they’ll be skillet-ready by the time you arrive in camp. (As a rule, if meat gets above 40 degrees for more than two hours, toss it.)

At Camp:
-Brush or drizzle pork chops with oil. Cook 8 to 10 minutes per side in a skillet or on a grill.

-For the cheese grits, bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add 1/2 tsp salt, stir in 1 cup grits, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thick.

-Add 1 cup grated Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese and 2 tbsp olive oil or butter. Season to taste with black pepper and salt.

Tip: With any ambitious camping meal, do the prep at home. Mix ingredients in well-sealed plastic con-tainers, marinate meat, and cut veggies beforehand so it’s all ready to cook in camp

—-

The Car-Camping Meal Planner

Foods packed with energy that won’t spoil or squish are the foundation of your camping pantry. Stick to shelf-stable basics like these every time, and keep meal planning simple.

Breakfast

Eggs
Eggs bought from a trustworthy farmer at your local green market can keep for more than a week at room temperature. Factory-farmed eggs, on the other hand, run a higher risk of bacteria such as salmonella and need to be kept at temperatures below 40 degrees.

Oatmeal and grits
Hot cereals are still the perfect camping breakfast. But opt for instants like Quaker Oats, since whole oats and stone-ground grits take 10 times as long to cook.

Bacon
Oscar Mayer’s Real Bacon Bits are a precooked, shelf-stable act of human genius: actual bacon that doesn’t need to be cooked.

Lunch

Preserved Meat
Mankind has been drying, smoking, and preserving animal proteins since well before the refrigerator came along. Hard salamis from Europe will keep at room temperature for up to five days. Alaska Smokehouse smoked salmon in foil vacuum packs is stable for years but does need to be refrigerated after opening. These can also liven up dinners.

Peanut Butter
The Heat Is On, from Peanut Butter & Co., radically reinvents your tired old PB&J lunch with chili, cayenne, and crushed red peppers. But your favorite cracker is probably a better option than bread, due to its packability and shelf life.

Dinner

Pasta
Carbo-load dinners for endurance, but think small: Little pastas such as couscous and orzo take less time to cook, whereas larger varieties require more stove fuel. Save a cup of pasta-cooking water for the sauce, and add canned smoked fish, marinated artichokes, and grated parmesan.

Cheese
Aged hard cheeses such as asiago and gouda hold less moisture than most other cheeses, so they keep for up to a week without refrigeration. They might get a little sweaty but will still sprinkle nicely onto hot meals and combine well with summer sausage for lunch. Avoid supermarket cheddars, which turn much quicker.

—-

This article originally appeared in the July/August 2009 issue of Men’s Journal.