by Chef T on September 2, 2011
When you work at sea, you live at sea. Anyone who signs up to live this work life will eventually miss a big event in their lives…a family wedding, a child’s first day at school or an anniversary(the first two out of three happened on this trip). When a birthday arrives and land, along with your loved ones are not where in sight, the highlight of the day tends to be THE CAKE.
Thank you Cheryl Zurbrick, once again. Not only is Cheryl still blogging every day about our current trip, but she created the fabulous cake decorations for our birthday boy, Ben Jokinen, our Senior Marine Technician. Cheryl asked what Ben liked and I told her, “…camping, fishing, his doggies and his fiancee, of course.” After a good bit of planning and sketching and raiding of the pantry, Cheryl got to work.
Chocolate trees with coconut-green-dyed leaves, almond paste puppies, laughy taffy bugs, a graham cracker tent with candle poles, heath bar crunch rocks, blue frosting for a lake, a little more almond paste for a fish frying over an open fire and even jelly belly beans turned into beer cans, makes quite the cake to make someone happy on their special day. Here is the proof….
Sunset on San Fransisco Bay was not a bad way to end the day. Happy Birthday Ben!
by Chef T on September 1, 2011
Cooking at sea and cooking at home often share the same priorities – fresh, fast and flavorful. This is a great dish to use fresh summer peaches and apricots and make your meal preparation easier without sacrificing flavor thanks to bottled sweet chili sauce. Recently, I discovered Grama’s Sauce from Taste Nirvana and it is yummy, however, any bottled sweet chili sauce will work.
6 – 8 boneless pork chops, thick cut
Wondra/kosher salt/black pepper to season/coat pork
T unsalted butter + T of EVOO for searing pork
3 peaches, sliced in wedges, pitted, skin on
5 apricots, same as peaches
2 large shallots, sliced into thin rings
T fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 bottle of sweet chili sauce
Lightly coat chops with Wondra and salt and pepper and heat butter and EVOO in pan until very hot but not smoking. Pan sear each side of pork until lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Lay seared chops in a baking pan, such as a 9 x 12 pyrex dish. Combine fruit, shallots, parsley and whole bottle of chili sauce. Pour mixture over chops and bake, uncovered for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees until pork is done to a medium temperature.
Serve with a basmati and wild rice blend and a nice green veggie. Try a nice, crisp rose wine with this meal and you will be very happy!
