To Trinity and beyond…

Devon and her family have been vacationing in Trinity Alps most of her life. It is a sort of sacred trip that occurs during the last two weeks in June. I knew 20 years ago when she asked Mike and I to join them for the camping portion of the vacation that we were close friends. Years later we were invited to join them for the cabin portion of the vacation – that’s when I knew that we were family.

A great deal of planning goes into meal preparation – weeks in advance the menu is developed and lists are carefully constructed. We know which ingredients are readily available at our shopping stop in Redding, which need to be brought from home, and who is bringing what. Meals are arranged according to how well their ingredients will last throughout the week. Each day we plan what steps can be prepared in advance and whose cabin we’ll prepare them in. It borders on obsession but the result is a week’s worth of delicious meals, each a perfect end to a day of lounging, biking and fly fishing.

Given the amount of planning that goes into each meal you can imagine our horror to find that the half dozen pork chops used for Bobby Flay’s Grilled Pork Chops Adobo we’d planned for that evening’s meal –were naked - when the recipe called for a 24 hour marinade. Shoot! How could we have missed this? What to do now? Panic ensued. Have a glass of wine and calm down!

As luck would have it we had leftover Nectar of the Gods from a previous meal. Mole to the rescue! The recipe calls for a side dish of Spicy Apple Chutney which we discovered goes beautifully with mole slathered pork chops.

Sometimes accidents happen and sometimes the results are such that they become a staple in your repertoire.

The original recipe comes from Bobby Flay’s Bold American Food.

Here’s the modified recipe:

Grilled Pork Chops con Mole

8 thick cut pork chops

Salt and pepper

1 container of Mole

Season Pork Chops with salt and pepper, grill. Slather with a good spoonful of mole and some Spicy Apple Chutney.

Spicy Apple Chutney

2 medium oranges

2 tablespoons butter

½ cup coarsely chopped red onion

1 tablespoon minced jalapeno

2 tablespoons finely diced ginger

2 cups orange juice

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

8 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored halved and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper

Salt and pepper

Zest the oranges then cut peel away and cut out segments. Set aside

In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, sauté onion and jalapeno until onion is translucent. Add the ginger, orange zest, orange juice, vinegar, brown sugar and honey. Cook until reduced by half and has a glazed appearance.

Reduce heat to low, all two-thirds of the sliced apples and cook until the fruit is just tender. Turn off heat and gently fold in remaining apples and the orange sections.

Pour chutney into a bowl and allow to cool. Mix in the cilantro, bell pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate up to 3 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Roasted yams and a big green salad round out this meal.