November 2, 2015 Dinner – Steam Baked Pork Chops, Convection Baked Acorn Squash, and steamed Asparagus

November 2, 2015 Dinner – Steam Baked Pork Chops, Convection Baked Acorn Squash, and steamed Asparagus.

Both Suzette and I had busy days, she drove to Santa Rosa and I filed a motion with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

I did not eat a salad for lunch until 4:00 and she had a root beer float at Clines Corners on the road back from Santa Rosa, so we were hungry, but not hungry.  

I thawed two Pork chops out and at around 6:15 we began to cook.  We are experimenting with our new kitchen appliances, mainly the new steamer oven and new stove oven.  Suzette decided to bake the pork chops in the steamer oven, which I believe is meant to sense moisture in food and adjust moisture in the oven.  Suzette checked the guide and for pork chops the recommended settings were 2o minutes at 320 To 360 degrees.  She set the timer for 20 nMinutes at 340 degrees.  

I asked Suzette what wine she wanted to drink with the pork chops and she said “Rose.” So I went to the basement and found a bottle of La Ferme Julien, a 2012 Appellation Ventoux Controlle from the Rhone Valley of France.  This is one of the best dry roses for the money (Trader Joe’s $5.99).

It has a dry,yet fruity flavor.  It is one of my favorites for simple ingredients cooked simply, such as grilled pork chops. We usually drink rose with pork.

Before we started baking the pork chops we addressed the starch and decided to bake an acorn squash I bought at Sprouts last Tuesday.  I cut it in half and de-seeded it and cut the end off the pointed end so it would sit flat on a cookie sheet.  Suzette then filled the two halves with choppedprunes, diced Apple, about 1 Tbsp. of chopped onion and about 1-2 tsp. of butter each.  Then she baked the squash halves in the new Bertazzoni oven for about an hour at 350 degrees on the convection bake setting.

While everything was baking, I snapped the ends off about 20 stalks of asparagus and Suzette steamed them on top of the stove in our steamer.

I took the Bearnaise sauce from the fridge and smeared some on the asparagus and we were ready to eat. 

Everything was ready by around 7:30, so we plated up and watched the Antiques Roadshow in Tulsa and the at 8:00 in Chicago.  Finally at 9:00 my new favorite show, “I’ll Have Phil Is Having” came on and I poured a glass of Calvados and grabbed a chocolate truffle.  This week he was going to his favorite restaurants in his adopted home of L.A.  One of the things that makes the show fun and entertaining is Phil’s inclusion of his friends and family.  This week he started with a double date with Ray Romano, his friend from their hit show, “Everyone Loves Raymond”, which Phil wrote and their wives at The Farmers Market on Wilshire.  Later in the show he met Norman Lear and Paul Reiser at Langer’s Delicatessen for what Phil described as “the best Pastrami Sandwich in the World, number 19 on the menu.” Said with a good deal of reverence.

The show ended with a visit to Homeboy Bakery that provides jobs and assistance to mostly Hispanics out of a life mired in gang violence, which apparently is an organization Phil supports.  In the middle of the show Phil visited Huckleberry Bakery in Santa Monica, owned by his fellow writer on the show and his daughter.  

There is always a segment of the show with Phil’s parents and this week his Dad visited him in L.A. And they went to a Deli in Malibu that according to Phil makes the best turkey sandwich in the world because you can sit on the patio and enjoy the great weather.  The they call his mom back in N.Y. on Skype, who is enjoying a vacation from Phil’s Dad.  One of the reasons why I like the show is Phil’s unabashedly joyous Jewish or N.Y. humor.  He and Ray Romano both grew up in Queens and they live that connection all the time.

At 10:00 after a great evening of TV we went to bed.

Bon Appetit