Victor cooked dinner tonight.  He had a rough day at the office and wanted to decompress a bit in the kitchen.  I had a great day at the office, and was more than happy to oblige.

I had pulled a couple of thick bone-in pork chops out of the freezer this morning with no real idea for them, other than I thought I would stuff them with something.  Victor had the same idea.

The first thing he did was make a cold green bean salad.  He blanched some fresh beans and then cooled them quickly.  Diced a ripe tomato and mixed it in with some chopped garlic, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, fresh basil from the garden, salt and pepper.  Mixed it all together.

It was perfect.  Simple flavors that blended perfectly together, yet were individually present.  Did I mention perfect?  Perfect.

And the pork chops…

Fresh bread crumbs, sun-dried tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, mushrooms…

He sauteed the vegetables in olive oil, then added the sun-dried tomatoes to the milk-soaked crumbs.  He added just a bit of the sun-dried tomato butter I made a while back just for grins and giggles.  He slit the chops and stuffed them, adding the leftover stuffing on top.  They baked at 400° for about 35 minutes.

He boiled some yukon gold potatoes and served them simply with butter and parsley – also from the garden.  (The herbs have taken off!)

It was one of those meals that just work on every level.  Simplicity and complexity of flavors, colors, textures.  I loved it!

Not that I would ever wish a bad day on someone, but…  It was definitely my gain that Victor had one, today!

(And speaking of gain – I was down a pound at weigh-in today!)