To Brine or Not To Brine

  Vickie has requested Pork Chops & Rice for our upcoming Sunday dinner.  Have you ever had a Pork Chop at a restaurant and wondered how they get those chops so tender and moist...when you cook them at home they are dry and tough!
   The restaurant's secret is brining the chops.  This was standard practice at every kitchen I worked in.  Brining is a simple technique which will help you cook a great Pork Chop at home...

I've got our Pork Chops and I'm ready to brine them.  In my brine I use Kosher salt, Bay Leaves, Black Peppercorns, Sugar, Red Pepper Flakes & Onion:

Put chops in brining solution and put in the fridge for at least 2 days.  Sunday I'll pan-sear them and finish them in the oven!

   One of our favorite snacks are "White Chocolate Candy Balls"!  You can give them as gifts or, in our case, put them in a container and snack on them whenever you get a sweet craving.  Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs          2 sticks Butter(melted)

1 cup Peanut Butter                              8 oz Powdered Sugar

8 oz Coconut Flakes

*mix all ingredients together ; form into small balls*

Topping:

1 (12oz) White Chocolate Chips

1 block Paraffin(wax)

*melt in double boiler.  Dip balls in mixture. Lay out on wax paper*