January 16, 2015 Pork Three ways Dinner with Mike Grilled Pork steak, steamed Baby Squashes tossed with bacon and Black Bean with Chorizo

January 16, 2015  Pork Three ways Dinner with Mike   Grilled Pork steak, steamed Baby Squashes tossed with bacon and Black Bean with Chorizo

Mike called shortly after noon and asked if I wanted to go to lunch.  Unfortunately, I had just eaten my PPI Pho soup.  We decided to get together for dinner at 7:00. 

Mike asked what wine can I bring (Mike usually brings wine for dinner).  I was thinking about serving the PPI Black Chicken Molé from Christmas, so I said I think this is beer meal and you don’t need to bring anything.

When I finally talked to Suzette just before 5:00, she was happy that Mike was coming to dinner and we discussed the menu. 

I said, “What about Black Chicken mole and Black beans.” 

Suzette said, “We served that to Mike last time he ate with us.”

We decided to use stuff from the freezer, such as the black beans but to serve it with newly purchased pork steaks and fresh baby squashes (Costco) and Suzette suggested that she make an apricot cobbler with the frozen apricots from Megan’s tree that we processed and froze this summer. 

I suggested that we add some PPI membrillo (quince) paste from Christmas to the cobbler and Suzette agreed.

I took three pork chops, a 32 oz. container of apricots, and the black beans out of the freezer before I rode.  I remembered to call Mike from the bike trail around 5:15 to confirm that we were on for dinner and had a menu and the time.  I told Mike that we had a rosé wine I wanted to try with dinner, but that if he wanted to bring a wine, I suggested that he bring an aperitif like Dubonnet or Lillet and that Suzette loved Vya vermouth.

Mike responded, “My office is near Jubilation and I shall go by and see you at 7:00.

I cut my ride short because of darkness and arrived home around 5:45.

Suzette was at home watching the news and had put the black bean container into a pot of hot water to thaw. She then put the pork steaks into the hot water to thaw a bit faster.

Around 6:30 Suzette began cooking.  Except for the cobbler, dinner prep was minimal.  She first microwaved the apricots to thaw them and made the simple cobbler recipe she usually makes, adding about 2 oz. of membrillo paste to the apricots.

Here is the cobbler recipe: It is Laura Williams’ Jiffy Cobbler recipe:

1 stick of Butter (1/4 lb.)                               ½ tsp. of salt

1 cup flour                                                           1/3 cup of sugar

3 tsp. of baking powder                                                2/3 cup milk

4 cups of fruit with ¾ cup of sugar

Melt butter in 8 inch square pan.

Mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in small bowl.  Add milk and stir until just blended.  Spoon batter over the melted butter carefully (don’t stir).  Pour fruit over batter.

Bake in 375˚ oven for 35 minutes.  If canned fruit is used, drain it before starting recipe.

Before we started dinner prep, Suzette put the cobbler into the oven to bake.

The pork steaks were thawed, so Suzette sprinkled them with Colima sea salt we bought at a modest thatched roof road side stand between Sayulita and San Pancho in the jungle of Nayarít Mexico at Thanksgiving and put the black beans into a sauce pan to heat slowly on the stove.

Mike arrived at 7:00 bearing a large bottle of Vya sweet red vermouth and a ½ bottle of Dry white vermouth that I had never seen before.  Mike said the dry vermouth was for martinis.  We immediately opened and poured glasses of the Vya red Sweet Vermouth and loved its rather bitter herbaceous flavor.

 

The last time we steamed the baby squashes, we over cooked them and they were a soggy and water logged.  I mentioned that I wanted to toss the squashes in bacon bits this time to try to under cook them and then sauté them in bacon to keep them drier.  Suzette then put the baby squashes into the steamer and then put three strips of bacon into a large skillet.  I cook the strips of bacon into strips about ½ inch wide and sautéed them until they were browned and crisp, while Suzette grilled the pork steaks (boneless sirloin).

When the pork steaks were finished Suzette came back into the kitchen and we transferred the baby squashes to the skillet with the bacon bits and fat and I began tossing them.  Suzette showed me how to slice cuts about ¾ through a patty pan squash or along the length of a zucchini squash, so that the squash will flare a bit.  I then made slices in all of the squashes.  

In a couple of minutes after I made cuts and flared each of the squashes and sliced the three pork steaks, we were ready to eat.

Suzette plated the dinner in large pasta bowls, first laying a puddle of black beans and laying on top of it four for five slices of pork steak and then I laid the squashes around the side of each bowl.

dessert - cobbler and vanilla ice creme with peach liquour

We poured Mike a glass of Side B Cabernet Sauvignon, which he liked and poured ourselves glasses of 2013 Monte Clavijo Rioja Rosé (60% Grenache and 40% Tempranillo from Total Wine $7.99 or $7.19 with the 10% 6 mix discount).  Monte Clavijo is a 500 meter high mountain in the middle of the Rioja and this wine is made from grapes grown on the side of Monte Clavijo.  The wine has a light and fruity taste and we quickly drank the bottle.

Rather than open a second bottle I went to the cellar and fetched a bottle of Crème de Peche de Vigne made with wild peaches that has been in the cellar since 2007, which we finished off with the cobbler for dessert; parfait glasses filled with apricot cobbler and vanilla ice cream.

Mike and I had seconds on dessert and loved it.

I loved all the dishes.  Only after dinner did Suzette tell me that the reason why we loved all the dishes was because they all had pork in them, including the black beans that had been cooked with chorizo sausage.

I was thrilled that from only an idea at 5:00 we had created a lovely menu for dinner using mostly frozen ingredients and PPIs by 5:15 and then successfully pulled it off.  The bacon complemented the squashes, giving them a good bacon flavor, and dispelling much of  the watery texture and flavor we experienced last time.  The black beans were delicious with the pork steak and became a sort of sauce for it with their rich hoja santa and artichoke leave and chorizo flavors.

The cobbler was also interesting with the bit of membrillo paste that jelled the cobbler a bit due to membrillo's high pectin content.

All in all, a very interesting meal.

Mike gave us a great compliment when he thought this meal was better than most meals he and Kathryn typically are served at bistros in their neighborhood in Paris (in the 9^th, I think he said) for 75 euros.

Bon Appétit