February 26 – March 3, 2024

Monday:                   Winter Minestrone with Cabbage Pesto

Tuesday:                   Chimichurri Meatballs over rice and greens

Wednesday:            Di Fara Pizza with Red Sauce Salad

Thursday:                 Dunnings

Fri – Sat:                    Retreat at Richmond Farm

Sunday:                     Grilled Extra Bourbon Pork Chops with Grilled Cauliflower

Bourbon and Branch Water and Pork Chops and Sazeracs

On Sunday, March 3^rd, it reached 65 degrees Fahrenheit in beautiful suburban Pittsburgh.  I had just driven home from a weekend retreat in the Laurel Mountains, and we were going to have the first cook-out of the year.  I had prepared a brine before I left for the hills.  And Beez, dutifully, arose before her wonted time and slid some pork chops into that brine to give them a good 11- hour cure before going onto the grill.

But what about the bourbon and branch water?  Actually, I like my Bourbon in a cocktail – a Sazerac will do nicely – rather than straight with a little branch water.  This, of course, marks me as a less than clubbable member of the upper-middle class.  Please feel free to blackball my application for the club – after 2 Sazeracs, frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. [Note: for those of you who don’t go on to read the recipes, you’ll find the cocktail recipe at the bottom of the page, a lot more discursive than the food recipes. To put it another way – it’s worth reading. And, indeed, all future cocktail recipes will come enclosed in a narrative/advertisement/warning format.]

While this is a food blog, since food and drink go together, I think it’s fair to include a cocktail recipe from time to time.  And this week, to go along with our bourbon-brined pork chops, I’m going to share a recipe for that famous New Orleans cocktail, the Sazerac.

And now, as Donald Trump once said, “But enough about me, what do you think of me?”  Um, I mean, back to those chops. 

Pork, being a lean meat, can dry out if you don’t cook it correctly.  And, if you’re going to grill pork chops, you’ll need a brine of some sort.  The brine below creates spectacularly succulent and savory chops and comes to you via this blog courtesy of Joe Carroll, inimitable smoker and cook and owner of Fette Sau in the the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia.  If you get a chance to go to his restaurant, jump on it, not only for the superb brisket, ribs and sausage, but also for the side bar where you can order a ‘flight of bourbon’ to go along with your dinner.  It is a heavenly experience, as well as a social one – everyone eats at communal picnic tables.

Our Sunday experience was pretty heavenly as well.  I enjoy being on my grilling deck, sipping a cocktail and cooking.  Beez doesn’t mind my cooking up a storm somewhere other than the kitchen.  Billy is always ready to join us for grilled meats and beer.  (Andrew is doing his own thing for food, at present, but often comes out to read on the screened-in porch and/or have brunch and allow Murph, the Memphis street-dog to enjoy the ‘country.’)  And then there are these chops, that Sazerac on the deck and the generally pleasant, sometimes spiky badinage between various generations and genders of the Stewart clan.

Joe Carroll has a great joint, but it does involve what is essentially a cafeteria line.  I think you’ll fine Casa Stuarti is a bit more divine.  If you’re in town, give us a call.

Bourbon-Brined Pork Chops

(adapted from Joe Carroll, Feed the Fire:  Recipes & Strategies for Better Barbecuing and Grilling)

Timing:        

90 minutes (1 ½ hours to prepare the brine – 30 minutes to cook the chops) plus the time it takes to brine the chops (8-12 hours) and the time it takes to prepare the fire in your grill

Ingredients:                                        Serves 4

   For the bourbon brine:

1 gallon water

1 Cup of kosher salt

1 Cup of pack brown sugar

Large Spanish onion thinly sliced

Head of garlic halved

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

1 Tablespoon allspice berries (we just tossed in a teaspoon of ground allspice)

1Tablespoon whole cloves

¾ cup olive oil

1 ½ cups bourbon

    For the pork chops:

4 bone-in center-cut pork chops (around 11 oz. each), 1 ½ inches thick (ours were thinner, so we reduced the cooking time)

4 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon bourbon

Coarse Sea Salt

Prep:

Prepare the brine:  Combine all the ingredients, except the bourbon in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Turn off the heat and stir in the bourbon, then let cool to room temperature and transfer to a non-reactive container and refrigerate until cold.

Put the chops in the brine and refrigerate for 8-12 hours.

When you’re ready to cook, remove the chops from the brine (discard the brine) and pat dry.

Start a two-level fire in your grill – hot and medium.

Grill the chops over high heat for about 3 minutes per side to get a good char, then move to medium and cook about 15 minutes longer, turning them over a few times, until an instant-read thermometer registers 145 F.  Transfer to a platter and rest for 5 minutes.

While the chops rest, melt the butter in a small skillet over medium.  Carefully add the tablespoon of bourbon and tilt the pan away from you until it ignites (if you have an electric stove, ignite with a match).  Let the alcohol burn off and then swirl the sauce until it is emulsified.

Serve the chops with some of the pan sauce spooned over each and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Cocktail:  The Sazerac

Note:  Sazeracs are not for the faint of heart, nor for those who have to drive home.  But if you’re in your own house, or using a taxi or Uber, this is one of the great relaxants known to man.

This drink involves Rye Whiskey (you can substitute Bourbon, but the peppery bite of Rye is a key to the drink), Cognac, Absinthe (you can substitute Pernod, but it is less herbal), bitters and a sugar cube. 

*The rumors of absinthe being psychoactive were wrong – any lives shortened by its popularity among artists and writers in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, were taken by alcoholism in general, not absinthe.  I am not a paid shill for the absinthe distillers association, though it might be nice if they showed some appreciation.

Here’s how to make a Sazerac that will take the edge off a difficult day and, if you spill it, the finish on your furniture.

Rinse out a rocks glass with absinthe and add a good amount of crushed ice.

Meanwhile, into a cocktail shaker, put 1 sugar cube or 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar and add 3 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters and 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters and muddle together.  Add some ice and then pour 1 ½ ounces each of Rye Whiskey (I like Knob Creek or Russell’s) and Cognac into the shaker and stir until  the sugar dissolves – 40 or 50 turns with a cocktail spoon.  Take your time.  While you stir, the ice is dissolving, diluting and softening the liquor.

Discard the crushed ice and any remaining Absinthe from the rocks glass, strain the drink from the shaker into that glass and garnish with a twist of lemon.  Slowly sip, do not gulp, this drink.  Sweet dreams.