Spice Rubbed Pork Chops and Garlic Green Bean Salad

This is another of the monthly installments of our anniversary dinners, pairing with a Three Floyd's beer. This time it was Dreadnaught, which is a very hop-forward IPA.

My idea was to try to replicate a spice rubbed pork tenderloin I had at a Food Porn class at Kitchen in the Market (from Molly Hermann and Tastebud Tart Catering). Hoppy beer loves spicy food, and this would make a good match. I had access to the recipe, but I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so I had to improvise. I also wasn't using a pork loin, and I was grilling...hmmm...sensing a possible problem, I really was on my own!

The side dish is an old stand-by of my husbands, he loves simply garlic and green beans.The two of these together were an excellent pairing. We are nearing the end of our stash of beer, which means it is almost our first anniversary. Hard to believe it!

Spice Rubbed Pork Chops and Garlic Green Bean Salad

For the pork chops: 

1 teaspoon garam masala 

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon anise seed

1 teaspoon whole Chinese peppercorns 

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon olive oil 

2 large bone in pork chops 

Put all the spices in a spice grinder, and blend together. Place in a small bowl with olive oil and mix together. Rub generously on pork chops, and let rest for 5 minutes. Preheat grill to high heat (400-500 degrees). Grill 4-5 minutes on each side, until meat is just pink in the middle. Remove from heat and let rest 5 minutes before serving.

For the green bean salad: 

1 pound green beans, trimmed

8-10 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 teaspoon salt 

2 tablespoons olive oil

Bring a pot of water to boil.  Put garlic in a large salad bowl.Place green beans in water, and let cook just 2-3 minutes, then place in a bowl of ice water to immediately cool down. Drain beans, put them in the bowl with garlic, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss them all together, and refrigerate until ready to serve.