Grilled Pork with Chili Maple Glaze

Recipe from Gourmet Magazine June 1998

Adapted and Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen


Last night we had our friends Carl and Teri over for dinner. While we had appetizers and drinks on the porch, I put this on the grill. The maple syrup went very nicely with the pork and was not too sweet. The chili powder not only added a good balance to the syrup, but made the pork a very pretty color. I flattened the pork into cutlets and place them in the frideg on a platter covered with plastic wrap until our guests arrived. It only took a few minutes on the grill to cook them. I served this with Jim's Favorite Potato Salad and Summer Roasted Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese. (Recipes on the blog.) Everything was prepped in advance so this was a easy delicious make-ahead dinner for guests.


2 pork tenderloins (pork chops or pork cutlets will work too)

2 cups water

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

2 tablespoon chili powder

Pour water and salt in a measuring cup and whisk until the salt is dissolved. Pour salt water in a large plastic zip lock bag. Place pork inside the bag and refrigerate overnight.
Prepare grill.
In a small bowl stir together syrup and chili powder. Discard brine and diagonally cut pork into 3/4-inch-thick pieces. Put pork between sheets of plastic wrap or parchment paper and flatten with a rolling pin or meat mallet to make 1/4-inch-thick cutlets. Pat pork dry and season with salt.
Grill pork on a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Brush pork with glaze and grill 15 seconds more on each side. (Alternatively, pork may be grilled in a hot well-seasoned ridged grill pan over moderately high heat.)
Each serving has about 217 calories and 5 grams fat.