Pre-Valentine's Day Dinner

While having lunch at the Cabo Fish Taco restaurant in NoDa (Charlotte), we starting to think about our plans for a pre-Valentine's Day Dinner. Sherry came up with the idea of a stuffed pork chop with a fresh salad of greens, seared goat cheese and blueberries. Her creativity led to making a stuffing of hot Italian sausage and Andouille sausage, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, panko and brie! She cooked up the sausages, chopped them up in a bowl, and added chopped pieces of brie, capers, sun-dried tomatoes and panko. She made cuts in the fairly thick boneless pork chops, stuffed them, and then cooked them in the skillet (using the sausage juices) until done. A little white wine added to make a reduction, poured over the chops, and finished with some balsamic glaze.

The salad was simpler, with a mix of baby spinach and red butter lettuce leaves, grape tomatoes, and blueberries. She cut pieces of goat cheese, covered them with panko, and then cooked them in canola oil until browned on both sides. A simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, canola oil and powdered garlic, zapped for 45 seconds in the microwave, accompanied the meal.

Just a spectacular meal! I can’t wait for Valentine’s Day dinner tonight.