I’m not a fan of sweets, but when the attribute shows up, unbidden, in your savory dinner, especially in every part of it, I can take the salute.
Otherwise this meal wasn’t much different than many others I’ve prepared using an extremely easy recipe for pork chops I’ve been working with for years [copied in this 2014 food blog post]. One thing that was new this time was a good closeup image of a very juicy chop, helping, better than the pictures of these dinners I’ve published before, to explain why I’m so fond of the recipe (the word, ‘succulent’ always comes to mind, one that’s not associated with most pork chops served, anywhere).
In fact, 2 images.
- two thick, bone-in loin pork chops (approximately 10 ounces each) from Flying Pig Farms, dried thoroughly, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, seared in a heavy enameled cast-iron pan, half of an organic Whole Foods Market lemon squeezed over them and left in the pan them while they roasted in a 400º oven for about 12 or 13 minutes total (flipped halfway through and the lemon squeezed over their surfaces once again), removed from the oven, sprinkled with chopped Salvia Mandarino (Eng. ‘mandarin sage’, or ‘pineapple sage’) from Stokes Farm, and the pan juices spooned over the top (there were enough to be transferred to a sauce boat which was brought to the table, along with a ladle)
- six halved Backyard Farms Maine ‘cocktail tomatoes’ from Whole Foods Market, seasoned with sea salt and freshly-grrund black pepper, gently heated, face down first, then turned, inside a small copper skillet, arranged close to the chops and sprinkled with chopped thyme leaves from Stokes Farm
- Campo Rosso Farm’s last bundle of broccolini (a hybrid cross between broccoli and Gai Lan, aka Chinese broccoli, first created 25 years ago) in the Union Square Greenmarket that day, washed and drained several times in fresh cold water, chopped roughly, sautéed/wilted over a low flame by gradually adding them to a large enameled cast iron pot in which 2 sliced stems of spring garlic from Joh D. Madura Farm had been softened in some olive oil over a moderate flame
- the wine was a California (North Coast) white, David Marchesi North Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2017, from Naked Wines
- the music was an album of music by Germaine Tailleferre, Bruno Maderna, and Franco Donatoni