Pork Chops with Oozy Gorgonzola, Honey and Toasted Pecans

I was lucky enough to get amazing seats last night for the Jay Z 9-11 Memorial Benefit at Madison Square Garden. The special guests started with Alicia Keys then spread to John Mayer, Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye, Mary J Blige, and P Diddy among others.

Jay's tribute to the lives lost on 9-11 as well as to the city of New York was stunning. Photos of the departed scrolled behind him for a good part of the show and there was an amazing graphic treatment of the city skyline at night to kick off the show. I particularly loved that he plugged his Texas lady's hometown (and mine) twice with a shout out to H-town. Such an amazing show - I still have goosebumps.

Anyway this post is supposed to be about pork chops, right? Right.

This recipe has everything going for it - savory yet sweet with the wonderful texture of toasted pecans. If it was a person you would hate it.

You'll want a good quality gorgonzola here - preferably one that you can smell/taste first before buying as there are so few ingredients in this recipe and you don't want any of them to drag the whole dish down with them. You could also substitute brie if you're not a gorgonzola fan, or any cheese that you like a good hit of mellow sweetness to contrast against.

What's your favorite sweet/savory recipe?

Pork Chops with Oozy Gorgonzola, Honey and Toasted Pecans

Ingredients:
2 thick cut pork chops, seasoned well on both sides with salt and pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 thick slices Gorgonzola, to place over the chops (cut 'em THICK - no one's looking;)
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons chopped pecans, lightly toasted in a 350 oven for 6 minutes

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Place aluminum foil over a small baking sheet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Let the oil heat through for 1 minute, until a beautiful sheen develops and it willingly crawls across the pan. Add the chops (dip one edge in first - if you don't get a 'hissing' sound, wait until the pan heats up more and/or raise the heat.) Cook the chops for about 4 minutes, until a golden crust develops. Flip to the other side and cook another 3-4 minutes, just until golden as well.

Remove to your waiting sheet pan and top with the Gorgonzola slices. Place in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until the chops are just cooked through and the gorgonzola has melted nicely, oozing over the edges.

Remove from the oven, drizzle with honey in an evenly zig-zagged strip over the top, and sprinkle with the pecan bits.

Skillet Corn with Chopped Jalapeno and Peaches

This side dish is quick and versatile. You can use frozen corn in the winter months (about a heaping cup) or even add or swap out fresh green beans that have been trimmed and steamed in a plastic covered, heat proof bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes, then sauteed along with the jalapeno. I sometimes sub a large vine-ripened tomato for the peach, cut into chunks and de-seeded as not to make the mixture to watery.

Skillet Corn with Chopped Jalapeno and Peaches
Serves 3-4.


1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 fresh ears of corn, shucked
1 jalapeno, ribs and seeds removed and diced
1 fresh peach, pit removed and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (you can sub a half a cup of frozen peach quarters - you'll just need to saute them for a bit longer)
salt and pepper
teaspoon of butter to finish, optional

Add the olive oil to a large saute pan, bring to medium heat letting the oil heat through for 30 seconds. Add the corn and chopped jalapeno and season with salt and pepper. Saute stirring every so often, for about 8 minutes until the corn is cooked through and JUST beginning to become golden around the edges. Add the diced peaches and butter if adding, along with a teensy bit more salt. Cook for another 2 minutes, just until the peaches are nice and warm.

Serve immediately.

Pasta with Pancetta, Sauteed Zuchinni, and Tomatoes

I know. I'm feeding you pasta twice in one week. But that's how the cookie crumbled so you will eat your pasta and like it! Actually, that might not be true. If you don't like zuchinni - you obviously won't like this pasta. But when I went to the stables last weekend, the farm stand next door was warning me it was the last time to get summer's organic wonders - namely corn and peaches - but it was zuchinni that caught my eye.

I was tempted to create a cream sauce for the pasta, but it's fashion week here in New York and the explosion of lanky 17 year old Brazilian models curbed that aspiration. So here's what I made instead. Apologies for the roughage dominating the picture - I like a lot of fresh herbs on this and didn't realize it would photograph like a home lawn (though I'll tell you - between the zuchinni and fresh basil - who needs a salad?)

TIP: Pancetta is best purchased in whole 'chunks' versus pre-diced. (If you're short on time - ignore what I just said.) So when you find it, buy it, cut off and dice what you need, and keep the rest in the freezer. Pancetta, like bacon, is actually easier to cut when frozen and docile, versus room temp and resistant.

Pasta with Pancetta, Sauteed Zuchinni, and Tomatoes
Serves 3.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound of short tube pasta, little ears, or bow ties
heaping 1/2 cup of diced pancetta
2 medium zuchinni, ends removed and diced
pinch of salt
good crack of black pepper
1 (14 oz) can diced or whole tomatoes, drained and lightly broken up, if whole
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon olive oil

handful of fresh, torn basil leaves (can also sub oregano)

Instructions:
Get a large pot of water started boiling over high heat. Once it's boiling, add a handful of kosher salt and let come back to a boil. (If you are still cooking your pancetta - let the water wait at a boil. If not - go ahead and add the pasta.) Cook for 8 minutes or per directions until al dente.

Meanwhile, heat a large rimmed skillet over medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon olive oil letting heat through 1 minute, then add the diced pancetta. Cook, stirring every so often for about 8 minutes, until the fat has rendered (shrunken and the remains have become glassy and golden) and cooked through. Don't let it get too dark brown or it will be like pork rinds in the pasta versus delightful meaty nuggets. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider to a holding plate. Drain off any excess fat from the pan, leaving just a thin layer. Add a splash of fresh extra virgin olive oil to the pan, return to medium heat, and add the zuchinni along with a good pinch of kosher or sea salt and black pepper. Cook stirring every few minutes until nice and sauteed, beginning to turn golden on the edges - about 12 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add the drained pasta to the zuchinni/tomato mixture along with the cheese and final teaspoon of olive oil, gently stirring to incorporate altogether. Add a final bit of black pepper, if desired along, with freshly torn basil leaves. Serve with extra parmesan grated over each bowlful.

Cheddar Caprese Pizza

Wow. This recipe kind of falls into the 'too easy to write down' category, but if you want to make it more challenging - make your own damned dough!

Cheddar Caprese Pizza
Serves two gluttonous or very hungry people.
* Special tool required: a pizza peel, or as I call it a pizza 'flipper'

Ingredients:
1 store bought, pre or parbaked pizza dough, about 12"x12"
2 ripe on the vine tomatoes, cut into slivers, deseeded and juiced by gently running your thumb against the interior, then diced
pinch of kosher or sea salt
cracked pepper
1/2 cup ricotta cheese, plus 2 tablespoons
1 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese, preferably Grafton or highest quality available
pinch kosher salt (OMIT IF YOU'RE SALT SENSITIVE - THE CHEDDAR WILL BE ENOUGH)
pinch fresh cracked pepper
big handful of fresh basil leaves
Olive oil, for drizzling

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 on convection setting, or 425.

Have two small/medium (cereal bowls) ready. In one, place the diced tomatoes and stir in salt and pepper. Set aside. In the other bowl, mix the ricotta and cheddar cheese with a fork, stir in the salt and additional good crack of pepper and set aside.

Once your oven has preheated, use your pizza peel to carefully slide the dough directly onto the oven rack. Heat through for 5 minutes, JUST until the edges and/or top are becoming golden. Remove (carefully with the peel) setting onto a counter lined with Pam sprayed aluminum foil. Quickly spread the ricotta/cheddar mixture over the center, leaving a 2 inch border clean around the edges (sadly I've found the best way to do this is with my fingers - though a more ladylike way would be with two forks to drop and spread across the hot dough.) Sprinkle the chopped tomatoes over (discarding collected juice in the bottom of the bowl.) Drizzle lightly with olive oil in a zig zag over the top and return to the oven for 8-12 minutes, until the cheese around the edges has begun to bubble and brown. Remove, top with hand torn basil leaves and let rest a couple of minutes before slicing.

Coffee Oreo Ice Cream Pie

This is too easy to have a recipe for, but I find that when things are too easy to be written down, I forget about them altogether. And with this pie, that would be a crying shame. It just so happens the night I made this pie for company, my dear friend Miranda brought me an incredible piece of chocolate complete with 'chunking tool' from the West Village chocolate shop, Pure Dark. Bless you Miranda - you always have the best timing!

Coffee Oreo Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 prepackaged chocolate graham cracker pie crust
1 pint coffee ice cream (I highly recommend Haagen Dazs' Five brand, which is actually 14 oz)
1/4 cup chocolate ice cream (Haagen Dazs' Five Milk Chocolate, preferably)
12 Oreo cookies, put in a ziploc and lightly bashed into pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream, cold and straight from the refrigerator
2 tablespoons sugar or powdered sugar
splash of vanilla extract
a dark or semi sweet chocolate bar, for shaving over the top
1 chunk of dark chocolate, for shaving over the top

Instructions:
Let the ice cream sit out for at least 15 minutes, until it's soft and pliable - even partially melted and liquidy is best. In a large bowl, stir the two ice cream flavors together (it's a free country - obviously you can choose any flavors you like) then stir in the Oreo pieces, making sure they're evenly distributed. Gently dump the ice cream mixture into your graham cracker crust, and cover lightly with a Pam sprayed plastic wrap.

Freeze for 30 minutes, then cover with an additional piece of aluminum foil, carefully crimping the edges to prevent freezer burn. Return to the freezer.

Ten minutes before you want to serve the pie, remove it from the freezer and set on the counter while you whip the cream. Add the chilled cream to a Kitchen aid mixer or a bowl if using a hand mixer, and whip on medium high for 2 minutes. Add the sugar and vanilla, increasing speed to high and whipping until stiff peaks form. Remove the plastic and foil from the pie, and gently top with whipped cream. Sprinkle with freshly shaved chocolate and serve.

Cheater's Side Dish - Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Bread Crumbs

Kris asked me the other day how restaurants manage to get all of their dishes out at the same time. I told him I had no idea, but remembered from my short stint as an (atrocious) waitress in high school, that many things were cooked partially ahead of time so that they could be finished off while another dish was cooking.

While perfect timing is crucial for a restaurant, the thought of it can also send the home cook reaching for the Ambien. In fact, when I first started cooking, I distinctly remember NOTHING ever being ready at the same time, which is why I usually avoided it altogether.

But have no fear - you're a smarter cook than I was. After all, you're on this blog reading about food and cooking while I was going at it like a rogue sailor, all alone with my ignorance. Here are a few tricks to arm you:

TIP 1. Meat means built in 'last minute' time. Anytime you are roasting or grilling meat as your main course, remember it generally needs ten minutes to 'rest' so that the juices can redistribute throughout. So wether it's a roast chicken, steak, or pork roast, remove it from the source of heat and cover loosely with aluminum foil while you wrap up whatever you're doing. This can be a real help if you've forgotten to make the salad dressing, set the table, what have you.

TIP 2. Have at least ONE un-fussy side dish that requires no babysitting on the menu (rice that can be baked in the oven untouched or roasted vegetables), can be made ahead (a salad assembled in a big bowl and chilled, then dressed right before you sit down), or that can sit quietly after its made (grits and polenta are very patient and can be reheated gently on the stove with just a splash of chicken stock to loosen them, while mashed potatoes often get gummy/tough as they sit.)

TIP 3. If you're making something fussy and codependent, like risotto - make it your main dish. Anyone who's made risotto WHILE trying to grill steaks or sear tuna perfectly knows what I'm talking about - it's very difficult to tend to both at the same time. Risotto requires constant stirring and sporadic addition of piping hot stock for up to 45 minutes. It's a time sucker - delicious, but demanding. So make it your main course and serve it with something you can whip up quickly once it's done, like a salad.

TIP 4. Build of a repertoire of recipes that can be eaten at room temperature so that you can use at least one in a menu that's rounded out with dishes served hot. Examples are roasted beets, quinoa or cracked wheat salad, or a salad of roasted butternut squash, basil leaves, and goat cheese dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Alright, enough babbling. Here's my new favorite way to eat green beans, using good old prewashed green beans that you 'steam' in the microwave first. I call it a cheater's side dish because you can saute the shallots first, then take them off the heat and let them sit until you're ready to finish the dish - in just five minutes' time.

Sauteed Green Beans with Caramelized Shallots and Bread Crumbs
Serves 4.

Ingredients:
2 healthy sized shallots, sliced thin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
pepper

1 package prewashed, precleaned green beans - the kind you steam in the bag, found in the chilled fresh veg section of grocery store
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons seasoned breadcrumbs
additional pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions:
Add the oil to a large, rimmed, nonstick skillet and raise the heat to medium. Add the sliced shallots and salt and pepper, stirring to spread throughout the pan. Let cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally and lowering the heat if they brown too quickly. Once they've become translucent and actually begun to shrink a little, you can take them off the heat and set aside until you're ready to finish the dish.

Five minutes before you're ready to eat, retrieve your bag of green beans from the fridge and use a fork to puncture holes in a couple of places. Put in the microwave on high for 2 minutes. Meanwhile, get your shallots back on the stove over medium heat. Carefully (using a towel) remove your green beans from the microwave, open the bag and add to the shallots in the pan. Season with a good pinch salt and pepper, then add the butter, breaking into bits with your fingers as you add it to the pan. Immediately add the breadcrumbs and stir to incorporate. Let cook for another 2 minutes on medium - until the shallots have really withered down and the green beans are just beginning to brown on one side (should remain bright green though in general - once they lose their signature shade - you've cooked them too long. Nothing to lose your pants over - but ideally you want them crisp and bright green.)

Serve immediately.

* These are particularly good with the Thyme Coated Chicken, posted here:

Thyme Coated Chicken with Balsamic Reduction

This chicken is another riff of an Andrea Immer Robinson recipe. She constantly preaches the wine-friendliness of dried thyme, to the point where I worry about the state of her darling mind. But like any good parishioner, I finally broke down and bought a bottle.

I was afraid that using dried thyme to coat protein would be too earthy, like biting into a hay bale, but I was wrong. The flavors were delicate and mellow, actually accentuating the juiciness of the chicken rather than taking center stage. And the balsamic reduction that goes with it? I could bathe in the stuff. The addition of chocolate is optional - if you only have milk or semi sweet on hand instead of dark, omit the honey and taste first. It might be sweet enough without it.

BTW - this is LOVELY with Pinot Noir, for my wino readers out there.

TIP 1: Buy chicken breast cutlets versus breasts so you don't have to pound them yourself or ask your butcher to pound them into scallopini for you.

TIP 2: Get your oil in the pan hot before searing your chicken, letting it heat through for at least a minute before adding the meat. You can test it buy dipping just the edge of a chicken cutlet into the oil. If it sits there lackadaisically in silence, keep waiting. Otherwise you'll get heavy, lifeless chicken versus juicy seared pieces.

Thyme Coated Chicken with Balsamic Reduction
Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast cutlets, or 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise in half and pounded into 1/2 thickness giving you 4 pieces
Lots of dried thyme - about 2 heaping tablespoons or more, for coating
salt and pepper
2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons red wine
1/2 teaspoon honey
1/2 tablespoon butter (small pat)
1 lady's thumb-sized piece of dark chocolate (I use Green and Black's 70% Dark Chocolate)
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees - or 'warmer' setting.

Season both sides of your chicken cutlets with salt and pepper, then pour the dried thyme over them, turning to coat and making sure every inch is covered with the green flecks (you may need more than 2 tablespoons.) Don't worry - the chicken can only hold so much so you won't 'over do it' - but you want a good coating.

Add just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a large, rimmed skillet and bring to medium heat, letting the oil heat through for at least one minute (see tip above.) Once the oil is hot, add the chicken breasts carefully spreading out evenly in the pan, then don't touch them for 3 minutes. (If your oil is really spitting like mad after they've all been added, reduce your heat slightly.) After 3 minutes, lift up one of the edges of the chicken, checking to see if you've got a nice, golden crust yet. If so, carefully flip. If not, wait another minute, then check again. Once on the second side - they should only need another 3-4 minutes, depending on thickness.

Transfer the chicken to a heat proof dish and put in a low oven to keep warm (about 200 degrees.) If you're worried your oven is too hot - keep the door open - you don't want to dry the chicken out.

Meanwhile, drain any extra oil from your pan and discard, leaving just a thin layer behind. Return to medium heat, then add the balsamic vinegar, stirring briefly to scrape up any browned bits off the bottom, then letting it bubble and hiss away like witches' brew for a couple of minutes until it reduces and thickens (a good trick is to see if your wooden spoon leaves a wake behind when you drag it through. If it does - it's thickened.) Carefully add your red wine (the proper police say to take it off the heat briefly to do so.) Stir quickly, then let bubble and reduce down some more - about 2 minutes - or until what you're staring at in the pan is no doubt, SAUCE looking. Reduce heat to low and stir in your honey and butter and chocolate if adding. Season with a bit of salt and pepper, tasting before adding more. Don't ask me why but this sauce seems to mellow and taste even better if allowed to sit for a few minutes contemplating life - which is fine, given that you can leave the chicken in the LOW oven during this time. Not a necessary step, but a good one.

Remove chicken from the oven, plate, and drizzle the reduction over and around.