We recently had our annual meeting regarding Ben’s services and goals. Ben seemed to understand, with all the people in the room, that he should be answering questions the best he could. While trying to determine his understanding of safety procedures, the service coordinator asked him, “What does it mean when the fire alarm goes off?”
“It means Dad is cooking,” Ben answered, completely seriously.
Bless her heart, she tried again, “But what should you do when you hear it?”
“Get the yardstick and make it stop.”
Maybe I should have seen the writing on the wall when Phil’s brother gave us a fire extinguisher as a wedding gift. I guess we should brush up on our home fire drills, too. In any case, with kitchen safety in mind, we decided to grill this week. Ben suggested ranch potatoes to accompany our grilled pork chops with fruit salsa. To round out the meal, we had a Caprese salad. When I asked Phil and Ben to get anything at the farmer’s market that looked good, they came home with great bounty, so we shoehorned some of it into places it doesn’t typically go, but the results were great! The best part about this time of year is that fresh produce needs very little interference to make a nice meal; sort of a vegetative Hippocratic Oath – First, Do No Harm.
Grilled Pork Chops
We grilled 4 boneless pork chops (because our preferred bone-in chops were twice the price) that had been rubbed with 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. We grilled at medium indirect heat for 8-10 minutes, and topped the chops with fruit salsa.
Fruit Salsa
2 plums, pitted and diced
1 handful yellow grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
Juice of 1 lime
Salt and pepper to taste
Crazy Caprese
2 ripe summer tomatoes, sliced
Basil to taste, torn
1/3 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
Olive oil to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn kernels, freshly cut form one ear
Layer, sprinkle, and drizzle all ingredients on a plate and serve.
If you, too, are looking to play it safe in the kitchen, we highly recommend grilling outside and eating as much fresh produce as you can handle. If not? Keep the yardstick handy. Cheers!