Grilled Pork Chops with Sautéed Apples

Sunday mornings we have a ritual. The Nudge brings the paper to bed with a cuppa for me and we slowly get ready to start the day. It is the only day a week that we sleep in.

I get to watch my foodie show until his Sports Reporters is on and every once in a while I catch the Best Thing I Ever Made/Ate on the Food Network. The other day The Nudge caught the end of a recipe for grilled pork chops with apples. He looked at me "can you make that?"

I had boneless pork loin chops trimmed and tied in the freezer and all I needed was the apples.

"Sure, this week OK?"

And here we are......
I changed a few things because I know what we like and the changes did not alter the objective of the chef.
I brined the chops for 4 hours and gave them a rub about one hour before grilling.
I used five spice powder instead of the star anise and used a pinch of ground cloves. I also used brown sugar on the apples and made oven-braised endive as our side.

Grilled Chops with Sautéed Apples
Serves 3

Chops:
3 teaspoons salt (omit this if chops were brined)
1 teaspoon ground fennel or anise seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns, crushed
1 teaspoon pimenton
Pinch of ground clove
1 teaspoon light brown sugar
3 boneless center-cut pork chops (6 ounces each)
Vegetable oil

Mix ingredients to rub on both sides of each chop. Brush chops with oil and grill for 4 minutes on each side.

Sauteed Apples:
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/4 cup water
1 Gala apple, cored and sliced into 6 wedges
1/8 teaspoon five spice powder
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons brandy
Salt

Place everything in a frying pan and simmer, uncovered until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened (about 15 minutes).