March 4, 2013 Dinner – Grilled Pork chops with apples and Sautéed Penne Pasta with artichoke hearts, asparagus and sundried tomatoes and Peach cobbler with Romanoff Sauce

March 4, 2013 Dinner – Grilled Pork chops with apples and Sautéed Penne Pasta with artichoke hearts, asparagus and sundried tomatoes and Peach cobbler with Romanoff Sauce

We had PPI penne pasta, so I thawed out two boneless sirloin pork chops and then sliced and chopped 2 Fuji apples into ½ inch pieces.

Suzette started by salting and peppering the chops and putting them in a large skillet with 1 Tbsp. of olive oil and seared them on four sides. About half way through the searing she added the apple pieces to the skillet.

While the chops were cooking Suzette put some olive oil in a large skillet and sautéed the pasta in the skillet with a can of artichoke hearts and ½ cup of the sundried tomatoes in oil we bought at Costco yesterday and seven stalks of asparagus chopped into small pieces.

After about ten minutes of cooking the pasta dish was ready, so Suzette turned down the heat on the pasta and cut the chops in half and found that their centers were still quite red ( I took the chops out at around 3:30 p.m. and they did not have sufficient time to thaw), so Suzette seared the chops with the centers face down to make sure they were fully cooked.

While the centers of the chops were searing face down I asked Suzette, “What kind of wine do you want?”

“Rosé”, she said. 

“Great’, I said and went to the basement and fetched a bottle of 2009 Commanderie de la Bargemone from Coteaux d’ Aix in Provence (Appellation Aix en Provence, Quarters, $16.99).  Since it was a 2009, I immediately opened it and we tasted it and we agreed that it seemed very tight and too cold and a bit bitter, so we allowed it to sit uncorked on the table until dinner was ready to open up a bit (note: rosé wine is best drunk young; the younger the better usually.  I have found that they lose their fruitiness after about one year, except the great ones can survive a few years of aging, like the French one we were drinking tonight.).

In about five more minutes the centers of the chops were cooked fully and Suzette plated up plates with one-half chop and garnished the chop with a pile of sautéed apples and laid a pile of sautéed pasta beside the chop.

Voila, a beautiful and very Mediterranean dinner.

As the wine warmed it opened up and toward the end of the bottle it had reached that French elegance with just a hint of fruit that is so typical of Coteaux d’ Aix en Provence rosés.

After we finished our simple meal, Suzette said, “We have cobbler?

I said, “I would love some.”

She said, “How did we make that Romanoff sauce last night?”

I said, “We mixed yogurt with cream and sugar.”

Then Suzette went to the kitchen and heated the cobbler in the microwave and made Romanoff Sauce and brought us plates of cobbler and garnished it with a mound of Romanoff Sauce.  (Note: Romanoff Sauce is usually made with sour cream, cream and sugar and a bit of brandy, but I have adapted it for our meals by substituting yogurt for the sour cream because I am lactose insensitive and prefer the taste of yogurt. When using drained Greek yogurt, the taste and texture is almost the same as thick Russian style sour cream.)

Bon Appétit