This entrée was shockingly quick and easy to assemble, incredibly (literally!) delicious, and very beautiful.

Psst! I snapped the picture before sprinkling the top of the chop – and its environs – with more minced fresh green-and-copper-colored fennel fronds (it made the plate even, well, . . . prettier).

• using a variation on a recipe favorite of mine, originally adapted from “Italian Easy: Recipes from the London River Cafe”, I thoroughly dried and seasoned two 8-ounce pork chops Barry and I brought home from a wonderful new butcher shop in the West Village, Hudson & Charles, seared them in a heavy enameled iron pan over high heat, then squeezed half of a lemon over the top, placed the pan in a 400º oven for 15 minutes along with the lemon (turning once, the lemon then pressed over the second side of each, which was then basted with the juices), the chops removed from the pan when they were firm to the touch, and sprinkled with finely-chopped copper fennel fronds from Norwich Meadows Farm
• small red and orange bell peppers from Norwich Meadows Farm, halved, the seeds removed, sautéed over a high flame until slightly caramelized, and finished, the heat still up, with chopped basil (Full Bloom Market Garden in South Deerfield, Massachusetts) from Whole Foods, and a small amount of balsamic vinegar
• the wine was a Portuguese white, a Minho, Quinta da Aveleda 2013 (80% Loureiro, 20% Alvarinho)

**

• loin pork chops from Tamarack Hollow Farm, seared quickly, half of a lemon squeezed on top, then baked in a hot oven and  finished with lovage from Mountain Sweet Berry Farm
• collard greens from Lucky Dog Farm, braised with halved garlic from Berried Treasures
• the wine was an Austrian white, Adolf & Heinrich Fuchs Sauvignon Blanc Qualitätswein Trocken Steiermark 2013

This simple approach to cooking pork chops is one of my favorites; in fact it’s one of my favorite recipes period.  It’s foolproof, and the pork ends up incredibly juicy each time, and it takes a total of only about 20-25 minutes, most of it unattended.  It’s from the “Italian Two Easy” London River Cafe cookbook, and I like to share it at every opportunity I get. This is my own, slightly-altered version of the recipe for the chops:

Pork Chops with Lemon

2 pork chops, cut 1 inch thick (if 1 1/2 inches, increase each of the suggested 8 minute cooking times to about 10 minutes)

1/2 lemon

Heat an enameled cast-iron pan* until very hot.  Heat the oven to 400ºF.
Thoroughly dry and season each chop, put them in the pan and sear quickly on each side. Remove the pan from the heat.
Squeeze the lemon juice over the chops, and place the squeezed lemon half in the pan along with the chops. Roast in the oven for about 8 minutes. Press the lemon half onto the chops and baste with the juice. Roast for another 8 minutes or until firm to the touch (think, checking for the doneness of a steak).

OPTIONAL: Finish with a sprinkling of a chopped herb or herbs, or perhaps some topped with warmed cherry tomato halves and/or the herb(s).

* If no enameled cast-iron pan is available, the chops can be seared in one that is not, then transferred to an oven-proof ceramic or glass pan before being out into the oven, perhaps adjusting for the cooking time because the oven pan will not have been heated before being put into the oven.

 

This simple approach to cooking pork chops is one of my favorites; in fact it’s one of my favorite recipes, period!  It’s foolproof, and the pork ends up incredibly juicy each time, and it takes a total of only about 20-25 minutes, most of it unattended.  It’s from the “Italian Two Easy” London River Cafe cookbook, and I like to share it at every opportunity I get. This is my own, slightly-altered version of the recipe for the chops:

Pork Chops with Lemon

2 pork chops, cut 1 inch thick (if 1 1/2 inches, increase each of the suggested 8 minute cooking times to about 10 minutes)

1/2 lemon

Heat an enameled cast-iron pan* until very hot.  Heat the oven to 400ºF.
Thoroughly dry and season each chop, put them in the pan and sear quickly on each side. Remove the pan from the heat.
Squeeze the lemon juice over the chops, and place the squeezed lemon half in the pan along with the chops. Roast in the oven for about 7-8 minutes. Press the lemon half onto the chops and baste with the juice. Roast for another 7-8 minutes or until firm to the touch (think of using your finger to check for the doneness of a steak).

OPTIONAL: Finish with a sprinkling of a chopped herb or herbs, or perhaps some topped with warmed cherry tomato halves and/or the herb(s).

* If no enameled cast-iron pan is available, the chops can be seared in one that is not, then transferred to an oven-proof ceramic or glass pan before being put into the oven, adjusting for the cooking time because the second pan will not have been heated before being put into the oven.

It was a meaty dinner.

The first course was a do-it-yourself project constructed around a wonderful pork mousse that had been made on a Columbia County farm, Raven & Boar, installed at the Union Square Greenmarket for the first time ever on Wednesday. where it was selling its very singular produce, farm-made pork charcuterie.

• a small 3-ounce jar of Hudson Vally Charcuterie Mousse de Foie/Pork Liver Mousse from pastured heritage, whey fed pigs
• a bit of fresh ‘red streak mustard’ from Alewife Farm
• horseradish pickles from Millport Dairy Farm
• a few tablespoons of Organic Valley ‘Cultured Pasture Butter’
• thin toasts of 2 different breads, an elegant wheat baguette from Bread Alone, and a sturdy wheat and spelt loaf, Philadelphia’s Lost Bread Co. pane di tavalo (rustic Italian-style, charred crust with notes of coffee and cacao, baked with organic bread flour, spelt, malted barley, salt, water, yeast, which the bakers say they’ve modeled after a famous loaf from the town of Genzano, near Rome)
• the wine was a fruity California (Lodi) white, F. Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Lodi White 2017, from Naked Wines

The main course stayed with the theme, but with everything cooked this time.

• two 8-ounce local Dutchess County venison t-bone steaks from Quattro’s Game Farm, in the Union Square Greenmarket, defrosted overnight and brought to room temperature, rinsed, dried, rubbed with olive oil and a very generous coating of freshly-cracked black peppercorns, set aside on the counter covered with waxed paper for about an hour, then placed over moderately high heat in 1 to 2 tablespoons of a combination of butter and olive oil inside a heavy oval 11-inch enameled cast iron pan, cooked rare to medium rare, which meant little more than 2 minutes on each side, or until juices had begun accumulating on the top, transferred to warm plates to rest while the bottom of the pan was scraped with a wooden spatula to collect the juices and 2 tablespoons of a decent brandy (I used Courvoisier V.O. this time) added to the pan and briefly cooked over high heat, until it had almost become a syrup, the sauce poured over the meat, which was then garnished with micro red chard from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• just before the venison was being prepared, nine ounces of thickly sliced, meaty spring shiitake mushrooms from Joe Rizzo’s small farm near Ithaca, Blue Oyster Cultivation, purchased from his tables in the Union Square Greenmarket, were tossed into a large enameled cast iron pan in which 2 or 3 tablespoons  of butter had been melted over a high flame, the fungi seared until they had begun to brown, a little more butter and some sliced green, or spring, garlic from John D. Madura Farms added, the mushrooms salted now as they cooked a bit more, and when they were ready, some chopped parsley from Phillips Farms tossed in and combined with them, the mushrooms distributed between the 2 plates next to the chops, with a little more parsley tossed on top

• some loose tender, sweet collard green leaves from Lucky Dog Organic Farm, only the stems below the leaves removed first, washed 3 times, drained (some of the water retained and held aside to be added, as necessary, near the end of the time the greens were cooking), chopped just a bit, then braised gently until barely softened or wilted inside a large, antique copper pot in which 2 cloves of garlic from Foragers Market had first been heated until they had softened, seasoned with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, finished with a small drizzle of olive oil
• the wine was a Portuguese (Douro) red, Xisto Ilimitado Tinto 2016, from Crush Wine

 

• the music throughout the meal was the album, ‘Laurence Crane: 6 Trios, 2 Solos and 1 Quintet’, performed by the Holt Quartet

There were flowers on the table (primrose this time), as there often are in the spring, because, well…

It was a delicious meal, including the pork chops, although they had delivered a lesson on the importance of proper doneness in meat: Despite my extreme familiarity with the simple recipe, they were at least slightly overdone this time*.

• two boneless heritage pig pork chops (a total of 1.04 lbs) from Flying Pigs Farm/Maple Ridge Meats, seasoned on both sides with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, plus a very small amount of crushed hickory smoked Jamaican Scotch bonnet pepper from Eckerton Hill Farm, seared quickly in a heavy oval enameled cast-iron pan, one halved California organic lemon from Chelsea Whole Foods Market squeezed over the top of each, after which the lemon was left in the pan between them, cut side down), the chops placed inside a 400º oven, flipped halfway through, the lemon half squeezed over them once again and again replaced on the bottom of the pan, a small piece of finely chopped fresh yellow aji dulce pepper sprinkled on top of the pork at the time they were flipped, then roasted for a total of about 15 minutes altogether [*which was a little too long in this case, maybe because the chops thinner than usual], removed from the oven and arranged on 2 plates, the few juices that remained poured over the top of each, the pork garnished with micro scallions from Two Guys from Woodbridge

• two bright white and deep green ‘roses’. or bunches of bok choy (also known, here and elsewhere, as bok choi, pak choi, pak choy, pok choi, or ‘small white vegetable’) from Campo Rosso Farm, washed, sliced into roughly one-inch sections, wilted inside a large vintage, heavy tin-lined copper pot in a tablespoon or so of olive oil after 2 halved Keith’s Farm rocambole garlic cloves had already been heated there until they had begun to brown, the cabbage cooking process starting with the thickest sections of this wonderful brassica chinensis, that is, those closest to the root ends, the vegetable removed from the flame while the stems were still a little crunchy, finished on the plates seasoned with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, and drizzled with a little more olive oil
• one large green-become-yellow heirloom tomato from Eckerton Hill Farm, seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper, gently heated in a little olive oil inside a copper skillet for a couple of minutes, arranged next to the chops and sprinkled with chopped lovage from Two Guys from Woodbridge
• the wine was an Italian (Veneto) white, Pra, Soave Classico ‘OTTO’ 2018, from Flatiron Wines
• the main dinner music was from the ‘British Music Collection’ series, an album of works by Colin Matthews, whose music is absurdly underrepresented in programming today, at least in the U.S., with Oliver Knussen conducting the London Sinfonietta, and after that we listened to Alexander Goehr’s ‘Symphony in One Movement”, Op. 29