Chops with Blueberry Compote

One to two hours before you plan on starting dinner,whisk together apple juice and salt to make a brine for your pork chops. Add pork chops to the brine and brine for 1–2 hours in the refrigerator.

When you’re ready to start dinner, remove chops from the brine. pat dry with a paper towel, and lightly coat all over with olive oil and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Meanwhile, prep all ingredients for the blueberry compote, so it’s easy to make while you’re cooking the other components of your meal.

Preheat and clean your grill. While grill is heating, allow pork chops to come to room temperature.

For the blueberry compote, sauté onions and apples in butter over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until onions begin to soften. Add garlic to the pan and sauté one more minute. Next, add apple juice and blueberries to the pan and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add salt and balsamic vinegar to the pan and cook an additional minute. Remove from the burner and your sauce is complete.

Place pork chops on the grill over direct medium heat (350º to 450º F) with the lid closed as much as possible, until slightly pink in the center (about 10 minutes), turning once. Remove chops from the grill and let rest 3–5 minutes.

While pork chops are cooking, make your creamy polenta, which comes together easily. Bring water and salt to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Next, slowly pour in cornmeal while whisking vigorously to prevent clumping. Continue to cook until it begins to thicken and then remove from the heat. This will only take a minute or two. Finally, melt in the butter.

To serve, ladle 1/4 of the polenta onto a plate, top with a pork chop and then pour 1/4 of the blueberry compote in an attractive swirled pattern over the dish. Garnish with fresh basil.