Celebration at Home

Tonight we had a second celebration in honor of Jeff's parents' anniversary. At least, that's my excuse for breaking out the good china and cooking something totally fabulous. Here's the menu: stuffed mushrooms (appetizer), pork chops in ginger pear sauce (main course), broccoli with cheese sauce (side dish), glazed carrots (side dish), Hawaiian rolls with butter (bread), and cheese cake (dessert). It was all deluxe.

Stuffed mushrooms is one of my favorite starters because they're versatile and easy. Tonight I chopped the stems and mixed them with butter and Italian breadcrumbs in a large glass bowl which I put in the microwave for about four minutes, stirring halfway through. When it came out, I added some Italian seasoning, pepper, and feta cheese to the mixture which I spooned into the mushroom caps. These went into a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes to melt the cheese and get nice and hot. The feta turned creamy and the mushrooms were tender and juicy - perfect with the wine my in-laws brought along.

While the side dishes were pretty standard, the carrots were particularly good to us because they came from our garden. Since the soil is a little rocky in the new section, they grew with a few crooks and twists you won't find on carrots in the grocery, but I always enjoy something fresh from the garden more than something I bought. I also have to confess that I cheated on the broccoli and cheese sauce, using some frozen bags I purchased at Sam's Club on our last tasting foray. (These spend about five minutes in the microwave and taste like homemade cheese sauce.)

The recipe for the excellent main course came from the 1994 Eating Well Cookbook. This is one of my favorite books because it has many beautiful photographs along with interesting foods. Basically, the pork chops are cooked in a little oil in a non-stick skillet and then removed to a warming platter while the sauce comes together. Here's the sauce recipe for a pound of boneless center cut pork chops:

3 tablespoons cider vinegar (I used cinnamon-ginger balsamic instead)

2 tablespoons sugar

2/3 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup chicken stock

1 firm, ripe pear peeled and cored, cut lengthwise into eighths (I used a red pear and didn't peel it so it would hold together better.)

1 2"-long piece of ginger root, peeled and julienned (I used crushed ginger from a jar.)

6 scallions, trimmed and sliced into 1/2-inch lengths

2 teaspoons cornstarch

After pulling the pork chops out of the pan add the vinegar and sugar, stirring to dissolve. Cook for about one minute, and then add the wine and chicken stock to help dissolve the caramel. Add the pears and ginger and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Add the scallions and cook several minutes more. Dissolve the cornstarch in 2 teaspoons of water and quickly stir it into the pear sauce. (It will thicken almost immediately; just keep stirring to distribute the thickener evenly. Return the pork chops and any juices to the skillet and cook for another minute or two until the pork is heated through.

This sauce had just the right amount of fruitiness from the pears with the spiciness of the ginger. It would be just as good over chicken or fish as it was over the pork.

The ending wasn't too shabby, either. I made an old favorite - sour cream cheese cake. I like the sour cream in my cheesecake because it keeps it from being too dense and heavy. In addition, I generally use some sort of cookie (instead of graham crackers) for the crust. Today, I used vanilla wafers with some finely ground walnuts, butter and cinnamon. Any kind of crunchy packaged cookie will do, though. Oreos are particularly good, and so are the el-cheap-o-deluxe iced oatmeal cookies. The generic lemon cookies work well, too, especially if you put some grated lemon zest in the cheesecake. While my son prefers his cheesecake plain, the rest of us put some blackberry pie filling on top of ours for an extra burst of goodness.

We rounded out the evening with an after dinner card game (which the girls won - twice), and a few more cups of coffee. All in all, it was a great way to spend a Sunday evening.