This time of year calls for grilling every night. Despite all the rain we’ve been having here in North Carolina, I’ve still been using the grill for almost every meal. In fact, I grilled these pork chops with blackberry-ginger sauce in a rain coat! Nothing beats the flavor and skipping all the clean up!

I’m so excited to share this recipe with you. We all went nuts for this fresh, sweet and tangy sauce made from summer blackberries, ginger and honey. It’s so unique and takes advantage of summer’s best produce. It adds such an amazing sweet kick to savory grilled center-cut pork chops. This is one of the more interesting recipes I’ve prepared this summer and it was such a success! You must give it a try!

Happy 4th of July ya’ll! I can’t wait to hear about all your cooking!

Grilled Pork Chops with Blackberry-Ginger Sauce by Season with Spice

Ingredients:

• 4 pork chops
• Salt and black pepper
• 1-2 tsp smoked hot paprika
• Olive oil
• Sprigs of fresh rosemary

Blackberry-ginger sauce:

• 2 cups blackberries
• 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger – minced
• 1 fresh serano green chili peppers – minced
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Salt & black pepper to taste

Rinse and pat the pork chops dry with paper towel. Rub olive oil on the meat and then season generously with salt, black pepper, rosemary and hot smoked paprika. Set aside (I did this the night before).

In a medium bowl, mash up the blackberries into a sauce (leave a few chunky bits for texture). Then add in the rest of the ingredients, and combine. Transfer the sauce mixture into a saucepan, and heat to a simmer, Cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce begins to slightly thicken. Taste and make adjustments to the seasonings, if necessary. Set aside.

Fire up the grill to preheat. Then cook pork chops on medium fire for around 5 minutes on each side (if you have a cooking thermometer, the pork chop is done when the internal temp reaches 160F).

Place each pork chop on a plate, and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with fresh rosemary.