Proving His Chops

What happens when you put your boyfriend in charge of dinner? You get giant hunks of meat. I assume this is a fairly accurate statement for many men, but I will try to resist the urge to typecast. To be fair, I should also mention that the ingredients for two different vegetable sides were also purchased, but the pièce de résistance was of course the mammoth veal chops.

I had a work conference this past weekend, and Joe came down for one evening. Sunday morning, when the full weight of the weekend was starting to hit me, I directed Joe to be in charge of dinner. Typically, I like to visit the Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s that are in Portland when I am in town – since they are both about an hour from where we live. Since both stores are a treat we do not take advantage of very often, I typically can justify the spending of horrific amounts of money on small amounts of cheese, bread and wine.

I assumed that since Joe was in charge, there would be no $15 stinky cheese for dinner, as he is far more practical that I when it comes to the grocery store. So imagine my surprise when I shuffled into the kitchen to find fava beans, golden beets, soprasetta, wine, cheese, bread and two enormous veal chops. You may think I am exaggerating, but I am not. They were gigantic. I was also duly impressed that Joe had purchased and was amenable to preparing all of the said ingredients for dinner.

However, my overwhelming exhaustion forced me to take an hour long nap on the couch only to wake up and groggily eat a lovely meal before passing out again. And actually, we did not eat the veal chops that evening. Instead we had them the next night, after marinating in olive oil, thyme and rosemary for 24 hours. Joe dutifully grilled them up, and I made broccoli and egg noodles.

So really, I am going to share with you my recipe for roasted broccoli and tease you with pictures of veal chops. Since the recipe for the veal chops are pretty much listed above: rub with olive oil, thyme, rosemary, salt and pepper; let sit for 24 hours – grill. So now that we have perhaps enticed you to head out to your nearest Whole Foods and purchase 2 one pound veal chops, here’s the broccoli recipe.

Roast Broccoli with a nod to Nana
Joe’s Nana used to put lemon pepper in a lot of dishes she prepared. And I bought some just to have on hand. But roasting broccoli with a homemade garlic, lemon, salt and pepper blend is pretty darn good. Roasting the broccoli makes it a bit nutty in flavor, and well, who can go wrong with lemon pepper?

2 large heads of broccoli, cut into large florets
2 Tb olive oil
2 cloves garlic
¼ tsp. Kosher salt
½ tsp. grated lemon zest
Large pinch of black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°. Toss the broccoli with the olive oil in a large bowl to lightly coat each floret.

Smash the garlic cloves, and roughly chop. Next, pour the salt over the garlic, and chop the two together until you get a rough paste. Add lemon zest and pepper and continue to chop together. Sprinkle this over the broccoli and toss to spread the paste over all the florets.

Move broccoli into a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, turning once.

Serve immediately.