A Labor Day meal of epic proPORKtion

It deeply saddens me to say goodbye to the summer, which I suppose is a testament to how great this summer was to me, but shush babe-I hate goodbyes.  In order to soften the blow a little, I planned a special end-of-summer meal that we carted over to the park and grilled out on the picnic table.  Everything's just a little bit more enjoyable over a good meal.

This meal in particular was a stretch for me because I made (pause for dramatic effect) pork chops. Yes, as in swine.  I cooked it. I ate it. I even liked it. This is significant as I've had it out against pork since I was about 8 years old. I have a distinct memory, which I'll spare you the details of, where it ended in me declaring to the world: "I'll never eat pig again!" And I didn't. I ate Kosher. When I didn't eat Kosher I told people that I thought the animals were too cute to be food (lie). I had a bevy of reasons I wouldn't eat it, and for about 16 solid years I stuck to my guns. I saw no pork. I cooked no pork. I ate no pork. 

Sadly, Mr. LovelySplendid totally digs on swine and has long bargained with me and requested I branch out. That I please give pork a chance. Happy Labor Day to him.

As I was planning out the meals for the week I came across this absolutely lovely farm stand on Valmont and 75th called Munson Farm. (Which you have to visit if you are local, because it's totally awesome.) They were selling local peaches the size of softballs and the freshest ears of corn I've ever seen in real life. Once I loaded up on my side, all I needed was a good meat to round out a delicious summer meal. Well, lucky Mister, pork chops were on sale and I was feeling courageous.

Pork Chops with blue cheese, grilled peaches and corn on the cob (recipe for 2)

This recipe was not only delicious but also easy to tote over to the park for a picnic. Add 5 bonus points.

You'll need:

2 pork chops; we opted for smaller sized chops for the budget and my deep-seated fear of hating this dinner.

Roughly 3 tbsps Stoneground or dijon mustard (you can eyeball this)

2 cups water

salt and pepper to taste

Blue cheese to taste; I liked the Salemville Amish cows milk version, which is sold by the wedge at Whole Foods Market.

2 ears of corn

1 giant peach (a la James)

1. Rinse the pork chops under cool water and set aside.  In a large bag, combine the mustard, water, salt and pepper. Once you have your desired consistency and flavor for your brine*, place the pork chops in the bag and seal.  Place in fridge for 2-4 hours to chill and allow the flavors to fully marry. Place the bag in a baking pan in case the zipper lock gives way- unless, of course, you like to live dangerously.  

*Many people add an apple cider to their brine, but I wanted to keep it savory since we were going to be pairing the meat with peaches. 

2. Heat up a greased grill to a medium heat.  Place the pork chops on the grill and cook thoroughly, flipping as needed.  

3. While pork chops are cooking, place ears of corn still in husks directly on the grill. Cook for about 20-30 minutes, or until corn is fully cooked but still crisp in texture. To eat, pull back husks and use them as a handle. (add 5 kitsch points)

4. If you have additional room on the grill, slice peaches in half and place flesh-down the the grill.  Cook these to your desired consistency. I found a good indicator for me was the temperature of the skin. Once the skin began to feel warm to the touch and there were visible grill marks on the flesh of the peach I pulled them off the heat. You can experiment with this one, but probably want to stray away from over cooking since it makes the texture really stringy and saps much of the flavor.

5. About 5-10 minutes before pulling the pork chops off of the grill crumble the blue cheese over the meat so that it begins to soften and melt but is not runny or liquid in texture.

Arrange these items on your plate and pair with your favorite summer beer or wine.  Follow it up with a great conversation with your friends or a Lady GaGa sunset dance party.  Your choice.

FOOD FRIDAY: The One where I plug my favorite brands

Hey there friends,

Back again for a Food Friday.  I am working on a few other weekly posts outside of Friday posts that hopefully should crop up in the next few weeks as they are fine-tuned, but until then, I am going to post another favorite food experience and hope that you enjoy.

This week the Hub and I made it to the Boulder County Farmers' Market (the first of this year) and scored some great food finds.  The most lovely of these finds, I must say, are the fresh eggs from Abbondanza Farms.  They were a bit pricier than the eggs you find at the grocery store, but they were MUCH fresher and as such, they were tastier. I think my favorite thing about the fresh eggs was the fact that they were blue, brown and white - no need to add colors over this Easter weekend.

In addition to our delectable eggs, we discovered that Udi's makes a sourdough that echos the sourdoughs of San Francisco (my home and native land?) and some funky Tomato and Cracked Pepper pappardelle pasta from Denver's own Peppardelle's Pasta. These were the inspiration for this week's best meal.

Enter: Creamy Zucchini and Herb Pappardelle Pasta (a Lovely Splendid Original)

Ingredients:

2 medium zucchini, cut into thin half moons

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

2-3 tbs olive oil

5 oz. goat cheese

1/2 lb Tomato and Cracked Pepper pappardelle

a couple sprigs of dill, basil, and parsley (fresh makes this dish a spring-y pasta)

salt and pepper to taste

To start, boil a large pot full of salted water.  In a skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the zucchini and garlic to saute until the zucchini is tender, and garlic is fragrant.  Cook by sight and smell, and just don't let the garlic burn.  If the zucchini starts to brown, it is really tasty, but the pan might be too hot for the garlic. (If you have onion, or shallot, that would be a good addition to the veggie saute).  When cooked, cover the zucchini and remove from heat.  

Once the water is at a good rolling boil, add the pasta. We broke our pasta in half, so that it would cook more evenly, but you'll need to follow your heart on this one.  The pasta cooked for about 6-7 minutes, but be sure to give it a taste test to make sure it is al dente (bite it, if it's too chewy, or still opaque in the middle, give it a few more minutes- don't burn your tongue, as you will need it to taste your creation). Drain all but 1 cup of the water from the pasta, and return the cooked pasta to the pot. 

Slowly add the goat cheese (in chunks) to the pasta and reserved pasta water, stirring to make sure the cheese melts evenly over the pasta.  When the cheese begins to look like a creamy alfredo-like sauce you can add the veggies. Mix in the chopped fresh herbs to the garlic and zucchini while still in the skillet.  When that looks evenly incorporated, add the veggies to the cheese and pasta in the pot.  Toss the veggies and the pasta until thoroughly coated, and serve with a crusty (SOURDOUGH!) bread.

This pasta was a great perk for our mid-week.  Being in Colorado, the weather really toys with your emotions.  It's sunny, but the wind is blowing 90 mph.  It's 60, but it's snowing.  The pasta was the perfect dinner to remind us that spring is coming up soon, and the fresh flavors were so different than our standby winter nosh.  I don't mean to toot my own horn, but y'all, I Hank Aaron'd this dish right out of the park.  My husband thinks I'm a culinary genius.  I'm not, but I'll definitely wear that title around the house (like Crocs, or a bathrobe).

To complete the meal, I had a glass of Cupcake wine's Dry Riesling, which is really worth a shot.  I'm generally a Sauv Blanc drinker, and Riesling is reserved for bridal showers or mid-July (due to the sweetness).  However, the dryness of this wine really balanced the typical sweet flavor, and was a great pairing with the herbs and vegetables of this dish.

Finally, I know I mentioned the Udi's sourdough already, but it is worth another plug.  My family hails from San Fran and the bay area, the motherland of sourdough bread (Boudin bread bowl anyone?) and I find I can be rather judgmental of any bread that tries to call itself sourdough.  Though nothing can quite capture the pure joy of some sourdough, dry salami, and red wine while taking in the salty air of Chrissy Field, this loaf reminds me of how much I love it.  Udi's. Write that down.

Happy eating friends!

*Remember, it's April, that means the farmers will be out there tomorrow. Will you?

NEW BLOG FEATURE: Food Fridays!

I have been doing as much research as I can about blogs that people actually enjoy reading and comparing it to what I really love to write about.  FOOD made the list as highly enjoyable material to both read and write about.  Win win....win.

As a big fan of FOOD, both the cooking and consumption of it, I am going to commit to doing a Food Friday post each week outlining a favorite food experience.  It will either be a recipe that I am swooning over, a delicious meal out that made me want to sing, or a tidbit of info regarding my efforts to eat sustainable and affordable food (so that it can be sustainable and affordable for everyone).

(As you might have noticed, I am revving up the blog so stay tuned for upcoming blog fixtures like this one.)