Pork Puck And Other Made Up Dishes

When is a pork chop not a pork chop? When it is a ten pound frozen hockey puck, that's when.

In the between times when we're not having a cow, we tend to get our meat in bulk from Costco. In the hustle and bustle of unloading industrial amounts of foodstuffs into our house, the meat may get stuck in the refrigerator temporarily, until it can be divided into smaller amounts and frozen.

As sometimes happens, a couple of days went by and this reapportioning didn't happen. To save the investment, I quickly put the whole package of a dozen boneless pork chops in the freezer.

Fast forward a few weeks, I want pork chops for dinner, only to find the entire package has fused together into one, giant, frozen mass -- plastic, styrofoam tray, meat and all. So I did what any red-blooded male would do.

I hit it with a hammer.

Q: What are those half-moon impressions on my meat, Daddy?
A: Those are called "medallions of pork".

Having successfully hunted my dinner, I proceeded to pan-sear the chops in extra virgin olive oil, rosemary, and orange peel, with a dash of grilling salts. I served it up with Basmati rice that I steamed with raisins, dates, and cloves; and paired with a side of parsnips, mushrooms, and onions sauteed in a loving pat or two of real butter.

It was a flavor adventure. Yum!