In the Pink

My sister’s favorite color is pink, and last night’s dinner, which she prepared, certainly had her signature color all over the place. First there were the magenta- and lavender-hued radishes, which found their way into a beautiful salad with butter lettuce, tarragon, avocado and Champagne vinaigrette. Then there was the bottle of Stony Hill rosé, which she brought down with her last month when she moved to LA from St. Helena. Good luck finding a bottle. After we polished it off, my sister informed me that it’s not available for sale and that it’s pretty much just for the family. (It helps to be in good graces with the Chelini sisters. We love you, Misha and Missy!)

And then the main event: perfectly grilled pork chops (they were a beautiful rosy pink before they hit the grill) with red beans and rice and a smoky chile and tomatillo salsa that Tiny G’s babysitter made the other day.

Summer in a Salad

Earlier this week I made mention of a pretty rocking dinner party with our friends Lizzie, Matt M., Katie, Matt A., and my sister, Claire. In addition to madcap high jinx involving blanc de blancs, spectacular single malts and a bet in which Katie & Matt’s season Dodger tix were on the line (you’ll have to ask Katie about the outcome of that tennis match that next morning), we also ate food. Lizzie put together a totally fantastic salad—a riff on The Hungry Cat‘s Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon Salad with Feta, Basil and Arugula. I mean, look at those tomatoes! She coarsely chopped up heirlooms, watermelon, fresh basil and crumbled feta and tossed in a bowl with fleur de sel and pepper:

At the dinner table, we passed a bowl of peppery arugula, and then piled the tomato salad on top. Oh my god – this salad has it all, sweet, tart, salty, savory—yum. It was also the ideal companion to a grilled heritage pork chop with French feta salsa verde (heavy on basil, Italian parsley and marjoram) and grilled fennel.

Update, when blogs collide: Over at DESIGNwatcher.com, Lizzie is talking tomato salad, too…

Yes, You Want to Make This

Anytime you see a recipe by Jeanne Kelley—whether it’s her cookbook Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes, in the pages of Bon Appétit or Cooking Light magazines, or on her Eat Fresh blog—make it. A few nights ago we tried these Pork Chops with Chiles Rellenos and Ancho Sauce from the August issue of Bon Appétit, and had our friends Booth and Adam over for dinner. The four of us are serious chiles rellenos freaks, and have together spent marg-fueled nights devouring hop-the-next-flight-they’re-that-good rellenos at the Sayulita Café in Mexico. But I digress. For this recipe, both the chiles and pork are done on the grill, which is a lot less work than going the whole battered and fried route w/ the rellenos, and certainly a hell of lot time efficient than traveling to Mexico. We also had some leftover potato filling from these rellenos, which we used the next night for potato tacos.

Here’s the potato filling, couldn’t be easier. Essentially boiled Yukon Gold potatoes, toasted cumin seeds, fresh oregano (which is growing out of control in the back yard—how do I prune that stuff?), and sharp white cheddar. Like I said, great in a tortilla the next day.

Before grilling, you do have to roast the chiles over an open flame, and then you stuff with the above mixture and place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Then transfer the foil and chiles directly onto the grill.

Oh, and a word about the pork. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I’ll take my pork chop with nothing more than a little cracked salt and pepper on it—particularly if we’re talking Heritage Foods chops. But this recipe proves an exception—the chile powder and salt rub is fantastic, and that ancho sauce sublime.

Porky’s

Six-Spotted Berkshire

Apologies for the pork-heavy week, but little did I know when I served an herb-roasted pork loin on Tuesday night that yesterday a heavy box bound from Decorah, Iowa, would land on my doorstep.

My heritage pork chops are here! I can’t tell you how excited I am to have a freezer full of big, beautiful Six-Spotted Berkshire pork chops! I had initially thought I’d be getting Red Wattle chops, but I am thrilled with these brightly colored, marbled beauties from Certified Humane® farmer David Holthaus, who has been raising pigs since 1974. Stay tuned for more adventures in pork!

Embarrassment of Riches

Apparently not every guest at Carolynn’s birthday party made out with as much Chino Farm loot as yours truly. (My apologies to Mike K.) Last night I took a page out of Carolynn’s book, literally, and made an incredible Currant-Pine Nut Relish from the cookbook she co-wrote with Nancy Silverton, A Twist of the Wrist. Carolynn had served this the other night with roasted cauliflower. I wanted to do the same with some of the beautiful little cauliflowers and carrots I scored, and spoon the rest over pork chops. So I grabbed a bunch of purple carrots and a couple baby heads of cauliflower from my haul, tossed them in olive oil, sea salt and pepper and then roasted them in the oven. Meanwhile, I heated up balsamic vinegar, currants, chopped shallots, garlic, arbol chile, a rosemary sprig and kosher salt, and then simmered for about 10 minutes.

Then I tossed in some toasted pine nuts and a little olive oil and simmered for another 30 seconds or so to blend the flavors. In a heavy skillet, I heated a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil over high heat and browned the pork chops for several minutes a side. I transferred them to a roasting dish, and put them in the oven to finish roasting along with the carrots and cauliflower. I cracked open a bottle of fruity and earthy Rioja, but cut my thumb on the very sharp foil, which necessitated a ninja band-aid:

Boo-boo notwithstanding, dinner was incredible! The husband went crazy for the veggies and the pine nut relish. I’m going to share this wonderful recipe from Twist of the Wrist, if only to give you a taste of how great this cookbook is. I cooked out of it all last summer, and highly recommend it.

Currant-Pine Nut Relish

Adapted from A Twist of the Wrist, by Nancy Silverton with Carolynn Carreño

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cups dried currants

1/2 cup finely chopped shallots (or red onion)

4 large garlic cloves, grated or minced

1 dried arbol chile

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Combine vinegar, currants, shallots, garlic, arbol chile, rosemary and salt in a small saucepan over high heat, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low and continue simmering, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes until it forms a thick and syrupy glaze. Stir in toasted pine nuts and olive oil and simmer for another 30 seconds to infuse flavors.