Two Finished Things

Two nights ago a friend called and said he had a gift for us, and could he stop by. Of course I said yes. Who turns down gifts? A few minutes later he was at our front door, with a huge paper bag full of chanterelle mushrooms that someone had given him. He wanted to know if we wanted them, since he wasn't sure what to do with them.

A glass of wine later, we had the menu planned, and sent Greg to the market to get pork chops while John and I did a little prep work. Here's what we came up with.

 

John cooked the polenta, using Marcella Hazan's recipe from her Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. This is a great cookbook, by the way. Someday I'd like to cook my way through it, in the style of Julie & Julia. I never seem to get past the first few pasta sauce recipes, though, since they are so perfect.

I sadly neglected to get a photo of the fresh chanterelles, but here's what they look like.

I cooked the pork chops and mushrooms. After cleaning the mushrooms, I sliced them thickly, then sauteed them in a bit of butter and olive oil until they were just starting to get soft, then added a little white wine and simmered briefly. Meanwhile, the pork chops were cooking, first sauteed, then a little shallot added, then white wine. They braised with the lid on for about 5-6 minutes a side, just until done. Don't overcook pork chops, by the way. We actually prefer them just a tiny bit pink in the middle. If you cook them all the way through, they get tough and chewy.

The pork chops went into the warming oven, the braising liquid went into the waiting mushrooms, which were then cooked down a little until syrupy.

 

A little chopped Italian parsley went in at the end.

The whole mess went on plates, with some lightly steamed green beans on the side. We also had a salad with fresh heirloom tomato slices, topped with fresh mozzarella and slivered basil, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

 

And here's Lewey, pretty sure we might drop something.

Not bad for last minute made-up cooking!

That was the first finished thing. The other thing that's finished is this.

 

Yes, it does look like sort of a wonky blocking job. It's a baby blanket, for pete's sake. I just mashed it out and pinned it down. More details will follow in a later post.

Comments

[danielle]

Gosh - all your photos are beautiful! From the food - to the dog - but especially the blankie (or, as my daughter called hers - the bwankie)!! Bet you are glad it is done!

[Bridget]

Wow, chanterelles! That's a friend worth having.

The baby blanket looks great, I hope the recipients will like it.

[Lynn]

My mouth is watering, you guys are such foodies...I love it! Absolutely delicious looking food. You should write a cooking blog!

[Laurie]

Looks like BrooklynTweed's blanket pattern. Nice! Will await yarny details.

Inspiring on the cooking...I should get my fall mojo going soon.

[mk]

Um...Yum!

[Kris]

mmmm.... yummy!

[Dorothy]

Looks wonderful - both the meal and the baby blanket. I'm not a fanatic about perfect blocking, even with lace. As my mother says - No one's going to see it from a galloping horse!

[Manise]

Delicious and beautiful! Who the hell cares about wonky- mashed down and pinned works for me!

[Joy]

Looks totally delish - nice blankie too :)

[Laura from Italy]

First, I hate my computer. I had written a nice long post and it deleted it when I previewed it.
Now I will try to rewrite it. And since I do not trust my PC I will send it without previewing it, so forgive me if I make some errors.
We do not eat polenta with pork chops and French beans here in Italy. Let me tell you a little story about it.
During the war people were very poor and polenta was very common on the table because it was cheap (but also not very savory all by itself). People ate it with onions, and if they were lucky with a sausage or a salami. They poured a thick layer of polenta on the clean kitchen table and put the salami right at the centre. The person who ate more polenta and reached the salami could have it too.
Nowadays we have polenta with a mushroom and different kind of meats sauce. Or with "baccalà", that is cod. If you want I will send you my Mom's recipe for "polenta coi funghi", that is with a mushroom and meat stew to eat with it. In Lombardy we call this stew "pucia" (pooh chee ah) because you dip your bread in it or use polenta bits to soak it up. In the dialect "puciare" means to dip something in a liquid to soak it up.
No matter what, your polenta with mushroom and pork chops looked very good and I would gladly have had a serving of it!
Love the blanket too.
Laura

[Chris]

*drooling heavily*

[Miss T]

That's my kinda dinner. Lewey knows what he's doing.

[Teyani]

I'm pretty sure that your spontaneously created meal rivals most local restaurants for yumminess ;-)
baby blankie looks fabulous. congrats on completion of that goes-on-forever-icord!

[Episkathy]

Oh, yum! And just why is it that polenta always seems so much yummier than "chops, grits, and 'shrooms?"

Broke my right elbow since we last saw one another--"terrible triad fracture" with three surgeries at Harborview since June. Just now back online. Still interested in learning to spin?