pork chops

i like pork chops better than steaks these days... man if you cook up a really good bone-in pork chop, it's like eating a piece of nonkosher heaven. my forefathers would kill me.

last night i made such an amazing meal. pork chops with braised pears, roasted garlic and chive mashed potatoes and sauteed zucchini. first, take a bulb of garlic and chop the bottom off (the flat side). drizzle open cloves with some olive oil. put the top back on and wrap in tin foil. pop in the oven at 400 degrees. now rub two fat chops with some brown sugar, garlic salt, black pepper and rosemary. let that marinate for awhile. slice up some potatoes and boil for about 20 minutes. crack a beer. pan fry the pork chops in bacon grease (my new thing is cooking anything in bacon grease. i save it in a glass jar in my fridge). after about two minutes on each side on high, add some chicken stock, some beer, sliced pear, a little bit of strawberry jam, and let it simmer. back to the potatoes. drain when fork tender. place in a big bowl. add a couple tablespoons of butter and some milk or cream. chop up some chives. check on your garlic. it usually takes about 30-60 minutes for the garlic to be perfect. i know this is a wide range, but i sometimes up the temp to speed it up. check on it. when it's a light brown color, take it out and just squeeze the cloves into the potatoes. add some salt and pepper and mash them all up! flip the chops. smell that amazing aroma! lastly, drizzle some olive oil, add chopped garlic and sliced onion in a pan. when onion is translucent, throw some sliced zuchinni in and toss around a little bit. i'm digging my veggies just heated up a tiny bit these days. they retain more nutrients like that. so just like a minute or two on each side is good for me. voila! now serve like so: potatoes on one quarter of the plate. pork chop on top of 1/2 of potatoes. sauce with lots of pears on top of chop and taters. zuchinni on other side of plate.

mangia!

ps - another interview today for a sales position with a dot com similar to craigslist.