Pork Brine & Wilted Greens

Today we have a two-for-one! I like all the flavor profiles for my meals to compliment one another, especially because my husband likes to smash all the foods together on his plate - yuck. We had plans for the day so I did a bunch of prep work so dinner could come together quickly and easily. We got home way later than anticipated so we were all grateful that the work had been done earlier.

This is a super simple brine that had me licking my stirring spoon (before I added the raw meat, of course) and my family, after pretty much licking their plates at dinner, decide that it would be a good salad dressing, too.

I barely tweaked it from here - I just added some toasted sesame oil - she did an awesome job!

Pork Brine

Another awful image and my food was nearly gone.
We had been at the beach all day, gotten home around 8p
and rushed to get the prepped food on the table and in
out bellies! There is no image of the sauteed greens as we
devoured those, too! Imagine, it was THAT good!!!

Serves 8

• 2 Cups warm water
• 1 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2 Tbls. Kosher Salt
• 3 Cloves, Garlic (or 1 Tbls. Garlic Powder)
• 1 Inch Piece, Fresh Ginger, grated
• 2-3 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
• Pork of choice (steaks, tenderloin, medallions, etc.)

1. In a lidded container add the warm water, brown sugar and salt - stir until granules dissolve.
2. Add in the garlic, ginger and sesame oil and stir.
3. Add in pork and stir briefly.

If you're using this for a brine, submerge pork chops in liquid, if parts aren't able to be covered, add a little more water.

If you're using this for a salad dressing, add it to a carafe (this would be a wonderful addition to an Asian inspired salad with pork medallions).

You can also use this to wilt some greens (as I did to go along with the pork):

Wilted / Sauteed Greens

Serves 6

• 1/4 Cup Pork Brine
• 1 Tbls. Toasted Sesame Oil
• 2 Bunches Chopped Greens (Collard, Kale, Mustard, etc.)

1. Add a little toasted sesame oil to pan and heat.
2. Add chopped greens to pan and sprinkle with several tablespoons, up to 1/4 C of brine.
3. Lid pan and allow greens to saute, wilt and absorb flavors (2-5 minutes, depending on greens).
1. Kale can take longer to wilt than something more delicate like mustard greens.
2. Greens should be wilted but still bright green in color.