The joys of retirement and planning little projects…

Up towards the top of the list is cleaning out the freezer. We’ve been reasonably good about rotating things in and out, but there are a few things that really do need to be used sooner rather than later.

The top basket is dedicated to Nonna-stuff… her apple strudel bites, corn muffins, frozen meals, a loaf of potato bread… things only she eats placed where we can quickly find them.

Then there is pork and beef, chicken and seafood, and finally, vegetables and assorted stuff. It sounds organized – and in a sense, it is – but then there’s all the stuff that gets tossed in wherever it will fit. Ice cream, for instance. It doesn’t have a home and a half gallon of ice cream can block lots of things. Phyllo dough, or puff pastry sheets… they go wherever – and usually block things, too.

Yes, I realize just how fortunate I am to have such problems…

Tonight, it was the pork shelf – bone-in pork chops. I know there are plenty of studies out there that claim the bone does not add flavor to a piece of meat. I tend to disagree. While the bone itself may not be imparting additional flavor, it is definitely is enhancing the cooking process. It changes the way a piece of meat cooks – in a good way.

Tonight’s pork chops went on the grill with a simple dusting of Baharat Seasoning from The Spice House. It is hand mixed from: Tellicherry black pepper, coriander, cumin, Ceylon select cloves, Saigon cinnamon, cardamom, Spanish paprika and Chinese Tien Tsin chile peppers.

And it’s good stuff! It was part of a going away gift my friend, Jeff, gave me at work. There were lots of things in the basket. I’ll be writing about the others as they’re used…

The apples were peeled and sliced, and cooked with sliced red onions in a pat of butter – and a really small dusting of the Baharat. When they were almost done, I liberally doused them with Calvados. The potatoes were fingerlings that I boiled and then lightly mashed and then fried.

We did good – we didn’t lick our plates clean. There’s pork chop leftovers for Blanche. I did eat all my apples.