I made pork chops, okra and cole slaw.

For the slaw, I combined shredded cabbage with capers, Dijon mustard,
olive oil and lemon juice. A little salt and let it sit while I
worked on the rest of the meal.

I browned some onions in an iron skillet with some oil and tossed in a
bag of frozen, sliced okra. Sizzled it for a bit over a medium-high
flame and set it into a 375-degree oven. Later, I set it back on the
stove top (don't forget the handle's hot, modom) and caramelized the
okra a bit more.

The chops got the royal treatment. I minced some preserved lemons
(Tom Colicchio's recipe) and some dried figs (mine) to use as a
stuffing. I set the stuffing between the chops and wrapped them with
some delicious apple wood smoked bacon D found in the bargain section
of the meat counter last week. I tied the bundle together with
kitchen twine, and made a fire.

I spent a while this afternoon picking up pecan sticks in the yard.
Rita passed by two weeks ago, but it was only today that I started
straightening up. Sloth is a sin, but the mess wasn't all that bad.
Really. Anyhow, I made a fire in the smoker pit with pecan limbs and
twigs and the Parade section of the Sunday paper. Turns out it's
useful for something, after all. Adjusted the pit's orientation so it
was about one point east of SSE to optimize the wind's cooperation in
this endeavor and set the chops bundle in the cooking chamber with the
thermometer reading about 400.

Stoke the fire as I might (and did), I couldn't keep the heat up high
enough long enough. It descended to a more appropriate smoker temp on
its own presently. Okay, I gave up and lit the gas grill. Got it
hot. Set the pork bundle on it and seared the bacon crispy.

Meanwhile I reduced some too sweet red wine somebody had left here
after a party with some fig balsamic vinegar. Cooked it down to a
syrup. This served as a first sauce for the pork. The second was a
dollop of some leftover poblano/cilantro/garlic pesto-like stuff I'd
made for last night's dinner.

The chops were stunningly good. Nobody in Cow Hill ate better
tonight.

And I've got a side of ribs out in the pit using up that good pecan
fire for tomorrow's dinner. That's the plan right now, anyway. The
ribs were rubbed with Mexene chili powder and brown sugar and got set
out in the pit about two hours ago. They should be ready by bed time.


modom