On Paper Delivery and Pork Chop Braising

Dear Boo,

yum.

Recently, the Mother did a lovely thing for the Boyfriend and me, by ordering the NY Times to be delivered to our door. Daily. I think she's got this idea that we can help save the printed word, one hard copy at a time. I don't want to burst her bubble, and frankly I do enjoy sitting down with the paper instead of my laptop on a Sunday afternoon. Not to mention what daily consumption of the Times has done for my moral superiority. However, one can only imagine what it's done to my organizational inferiority. I mean, this thing arrives at our doorstep. EVERY DAY. I'm sure you can picture what that much accumulated paper does to a one bedroom apartment, inhabited by one (and maybe a half) die-hard packrat.

The other day, the Boyfriend and I were totally fed up and decided to dig ourselves out from under the piles and toss things with ruthless abandon. Of course, because he's The Boyfriend and by his very title must be kind, sweet, and endlessly in touch with my needs, amidst the purge, he pulled out a dining section and cried, "Wait! Did you see this? Don't you want it? It's got all kinds of recipes..." What a sweetheart. Of course I kept it.

And lucky for him that I did. In it was a recipe by Melissa Clark for a quick braise of pork chops that has all the flavor of a day-long event. It's a simple sauce of tomatoes, garlic, onion and rosemary, with anchovies added for that hard to identify briny/funkiness. After our massive newspaper toss of 09, the Boyfriend and I took a stroll through Chelsea Market where we were lucky to get a grand tour of the newly opened Dickson's Farmstand Meats, the glorious creation by my high school friend, and now go to meat-expert, Jake Dickson. (You may remember him from the days of Hamlet the pig.) The store is amazing, and once the kitchen is fully up and running, I'm sure will be totally overrun with customers. He's already had a visit (and tweet) from Ruth Reichl, and a ton of press, and will soon have an even greater honor bestowed upon him (if accepted), that of A Mouse Bouche's Baker's Dozen interviewee! Lo and behold, Jake had some gorgeous thick pork chops, perfect for my trash-bin rescued recipe. We grabbed the rest of the ingredients (what I could remember of them after a quick glance at the paper) and headed home to cook.

Apologies for the messy plate and the fact that you can't get a good look at Jake's beautiful chops. Trust me, they were beauties.

The result? Quick, simple, comforting, and delicious. I served them with roasted fingerlings from the farmer's market, and a salad of arugula with leftover roast acorn squash, gorgonzola, and caramelized onions. The leftover sauce from the chops turned into a great pasta the next day with wilted arugula, this delicious olive oil, and generous amounts of cheese.

The salad was delicious. I roasted the squash with maple syrup, chili powder, olive oil s&p.

The next day's dinner. Delicious.

If you're planning on cooking for someone (just anyone, no one in particular, not that I have anyone in mind :)), may I recommend this meal. It's very autumnal (love that word), very tasty, manly enough if your guest happens to be of the male persuasion, still elegant, and when you get down to it, you can do like the Boyfriend and eat the last bits with your hands. tres sexy. Well, maybe not, but tres tres tasty.

Melissa Clark's Braised Pork Chops (adapted only slightly by the Mouse)

2 1 1/2-inch-thick bone-in pork loin chops (about 1 1/2 pounds total)

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more for seasoning pork

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more for seasoning pork

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced (the Mouse used 2 large shallots and some leftover caramelized yellow onions)

3 large rosemary sprigs

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 large can of plum tomatoes, reserving some of the juice so the sauce doesn't get too soupy (Clark calls for a mix of yellow and red fresh tomatoes)

6 anchovy fillets

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse pork chops and pat dry with a paper towel. Season generously with salt and pepper. In a large, ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, place 1 tablespoon oil. Sear chops until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes a side. Transfer to a plate.

2. Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and sauté onion and rosemary until onions are golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute.

3. Add tomatoes, anchovies and remaining salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes begin to break down, about 8 minutes.

4. Add pork chops to skillet, spooning sauce over chops. Cover skillet and transfer to oven to bake until a thermometer inserted into center of meat reads 145 degrees, about 15 minutes. For me it took much longer but that may be because I was raised by our mother and am terrified of undercooking pork. Allow chops to rest for 5 minutes in pan. Serve with some sort of starch. Polenta would be good, or crusty bread. The potatoes were also delicious.

Yield: 2 servings.

Love,
The Mouse

Dining In: The Horn of Plenty

Dear Mouse,

Yes, I still write for this blog.

The predictive text feature on my phone will not spell the word "Mango". It doesn't know it. It does, however, seem to know the word "ManHo". Make of that what you will.

Yes, it's been a time of discovery Chez Boo. Another thing I've been (re)learning about lately - the joys and benefits of regular Home Cooking.

I was thinking about something you said about maxing out on prepared foods -- ordered in or eaten out- during busy times. Not only is it bad for the wallet, but you mentioned that it also was bad for you in terms of... just feeling icky. (I may be misquoting here).

Since I, too, had fallen into this pattern over the last few months, my current houseguest and fellow Foodie (we'll call him the Gentleman Caller) suggested an experiment. As we are both, how you say, "between projects" at the moment, we really have no excuse Not to do this. No eating out - or ordering in -- for two weeks.

Like they say, culinary genius is simply Poverty plus Time.


Extremely Sexy Vodka-Spiked Cherry Tomatoes w/Pepper Salt (see earlier rhapsodic entry)

And now, a FAQ Section.

Doesn't it take time to prepare and cook all your own food?
Yes. However, it really, really does not take as much time as you think. (It does help to have a co-chef). Once you get in the groove, meals start assembling themselves.

Is home cooking really that much healthier than restaurant cooking?
Well, I can't say for sure, but #1: Due to extremely satisfying nature of meals, snacking decreased dramatically. We are both slightly smaller (and happier), despite cooking whatever we want. #2: I had a Starbucks Mocha after eating our food for a week (which included a cake). After I came to on the sidewalk (ok, the couch) from the unexpected sugar collapse I began to suspect there is WAY more sugar in prepared foods/restaurant meals than we all want to think.

Homemade Applesauce for the GC's Pork Chops, which took about 20 minutes and did not involve a blender or food mill.(Gourmet Cookbook)

Don't you get bored? Limited?
Turns out, necessity breeds invention breeds more than invention. When one ingredient, out of practicality, resurfaces in several dishes (ie, the cilantro in the strawberry salsa and in the salad... the hot peppers in the salsa that also made infused vodka for bloody marys) it lends a harmony to the whole experience.

Transcendent Wednesday Afternoon Republican Convention Pork Chops w/homemade applesauce and Raw Sweetcorn (Raw. Try it)

How did you grow as an artist during this experience? (Shut up, it's my FAQ section)
Turns out the same rules of collaboration when making good Art apply to making great Food. Specifically, the "Yes, and.." improvisation rule, where one must not say "No" to any suggestions, only "Yes, and-!", building on the idea. For example, the GC suggested a dessert he'd once had: half an avocado covered in salsa, eaten with a spoon. I liked the idea but just couldn't see tomato salsa in a dessert. I suggested strawberry salsa instead (Gourmet Cookbook), and a beautiful summer dessert was born. See?

Isn't the Gourmet Cookbook awesome?
It sure is, Mouse. It sure is.

Love,

The Boo

Hungry for More? Try This: Get 1 lb of strawberries. Hull and halve them. Toss in 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, few grinds of black pepper. Let sit at room temperature for half an hour. Toss once more and eat. Be transported. Excellent with Walnut Spice Cake w/Lemon Glaze from Gourmet Cookbook.