A Lazy Sunday

First up lunch. A couple of great pates from Erik at Clancey's: one with morels and scallions and one made with rabbit livers. Cow's milk gouda from the Netherlands and a washed rind sheep's milk cheese from Vermont, little baby dill pickles, and a sweet mustard.

Well fortified, it was time to make a brine for the pork chops. This one had kosher salt, brown sugar, rosemary (from the greenhouse), garlic, and lemon peel.

The Niman Ranch bone-in chops were in the brine for two hours. Then they were rinsed and dried on a rack (in the fridge) for two more hours.

Beautiful, aren't they?

I picked up some new charcoals over the weekend. I've been growing frustrated with the amount of additives in the big K. Sure, it gives a consistent, clean burn, but at the expense of petroleum by-products and filler. I had experimented with natural lump charcoal in the past, but I wasn't very successful at controlling the burn. With some research, I realized that I might not be using the best lump charcoal. I found some Big Green Egg lump at a local True Value hardware store. It's great stuff, much better than what I had tried in the past. Easy to light, it burns great. I'm most definitely a convert.

I put a small piece of apple wood in the charcoal when I cooked the chops on the Weber kettle. They spent some time over a direct fire, and some time over indirect. I tossed some sliced summer squash with S&P, olive oil, dried oregano, and grilled those over the hot part of the fire while the chops were cooking indirectly. Tossed the squash with grated Parmesan and made a quick mustard sauce while the chops rested.


The sauce came out a little thick, which I guess is what happens when you use a roux and heavy cream. It was, however, a delicious end to a wonderful weekend.