Joe's Birthday and His Favorite Meal: Pork, Wrapped in Pork, Stuffed With Pork

The birthday events for Joe actually began early Saturday April 24th morning (his bday is April 25th).  I put together a paintball private game at CPX in Joliet Illinois.  14 of us ended up going.  I always thought paintball would be fun, but this was on beyond my expectations.  Although I currently am harboring multiple bruises from being pegged, it was worth it.  We got there at 8:30 in the morning, and played til about 12:30 in the afternoon.  Split off into two teams (randomly chosen), and played on 5 different courses.  If you have never played before, I highly recommend it!  That night we were having everyone over for birthday party.  By the time I got home and showered I had about half an hour to sit back and relax before having to get up and get things ready.  While I cooked in the kitchen, joe cleaned up.  Most people arrived around 7pm, and were greeted by a bevy of drinks, pizzas, and other culinary concoctions.  I ended up making my homemade salsa and guac, along with my buffalo chicken tartlets (made them with mozzarella cheese instead of bleu), double chocolate cupcakes with strawberry jam filling and chocolate buttercream frosting, and something I like to call Dikta Wraps (in honor of the old Bears coach Mr. Mike Dikta).  Basically it involves smoked polish sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese, all wrapped in a crescent roll.....they must have been good cause we didn't put any away that night.  There was lots of poker being played, along with rock band, and other card games that were explicitly designed for drinking.  By the end of the evening I was absolutely exhausted, but I think Joe had an amazing time, which makes it all worth it!

The next day was his ACTUAL birthday.  We woke, cleaned up the place with the help of the other roomies, got some food (which actually consisted of left over pizza), and sat down to relax for a bit.  To my dismay Sean had brought over Avatar, which I had yet to see.  The movie doesn't seem like its that long while you are watching it, but by the time it ended it was close to two o'clock and Joe's family was coming over for dinner at 4:30!  This wouldn't have been too much of a problem considering dinner wasn't going to take that long however I was making Tiramisu for dessert (Joe's favorite) and that takes at least three hours to set up in the fridge......Thankfully I was able to get the tiramisu put together in about an hour, and started on the rest of the meal which included bacon wrapped pork chops stuffed with chorizo cornbread stuffing, with roasted Parmesan broccoli and cauliflower, and garlic mashed potatoes.  I already had made the cornbread a head of time, so it didn't take long to get everything done.  I was able to dash into the bedroom and change out of my festive, though dinner inappropriate, penguin pajamas and into something a little nicer JUST as everyone arrived.  The meal was a success, and I received the best culinary compliment I've ever had, when Joe's mom said that my Tiramisu she felt was better than that of Cafe lucci, in Glenview (which Joe constantly raves about being his favorite).  I would have to say Birthday celebration an absolute success.  And if you decide to make this meal and are looking for good wine pairings, try Q vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon with dinner, and with dessert Santa Margherita's Prosecco it's absolute perfection!

Bacon Wrapped Porkchops, 

with Cornbread and Chorizo Sausage Stuffing 

Oven to 400 degrees F

Ingredients

• 6 double cut, bone in, porkchops, butterflyed (double cut refers to the thickness of the chop, and you can ask the butcher to give you these, including butterflying them)
• at least 18 slices of bacon (thick cut, preferably peppered)
• 4 cups of cornbread
• 1 medium sized red bell pepper (diced)
• 1 medium white onion (diced)
• 1 cup of celery (diced)
• 4-6 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 lb of chorizo or hot italian sausage, taken out of casing
• 2-3 cups of chicken stock
• 3-4 dashes of cayenne pepper, plus more to season outside of chop
• 1 tsp ground black pepper, plus more to season outside of chop
• 1 tsp creole seasoning (or simply seasoning salt), plus more to season outside of chop
• 2 tsp cumin, plus more to season outside of chop

1. In large pan or medium size pot, over medium to high heat, add your sausage.  Break up so it is in small pieces.  Cook til browned.
2. If look to be too much grease drain some out of the pan.  Over medium to high heat add your red pepper, white onion, celery, and garlic.  Stir, and cook for about 5 minutes.
3. Add your cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, creole seasoning, and cumin.  Stir til everything is evenly coated.  Cook for additional few minutes.
4. Add your 4 cups of cornbread.  Make sure you do not have big chunks, but your cornbread is more like breadcrumbs.  Mix thoroughly, and add 2 cups of chicken stock.
5. After mixing, if looks to be too dry, add half to 1 cup more of stock.  You do not want your stuffing to be too wet and mucky.
6. Now take your butterflied chop and add about 1/3-1/2 cup of stuffing into the middle.  Make sure you get it push back towards the bone really well, so that you can bring the edges of the chop so they almost close over the stuffing.  If you can still see the stuffing don't worry, thats what the bacon is for.
7. using all of the spices you had before, salt, pepper, cumin, cayenne.....season the outside of your chop.  Then using 3-4 peices of bacon (more if you think it needs it), wrap them around your chop so that the stuffing is no longer visible.  If you want you can use a toothpick or too to make sure the bacon stays.
8. Then in a large frying pan, add about 4 tblsp of olive oil.  Bring up to medium/high heat and sear both sides of your pork chops until the bacon is browned.  Once done, put over onto a baking sheet, that has been lightly coated with Pam.  
9. After you have seared all of your chops, and placed on baking sheet, put into a 400 degree F oven for 45 minutes-60 minutes.  Depending on how thick your chops actually are. If you cut into one and it is completely white, no pink, the chop is done.

Oven Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

• 2 lbs of broccoli, stems cut off, and cut into florettes
• 2 lbs of cauliflower, stems cut off, and cut into florettes
• 4 tblspn olive oil
• 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese

1. place broccoli and cauliflower in 9 X 13 baking dish.
2. drizzle the olive oil, evenly over the top
3. Sprinkle the Parmesan evenly over the top.
4. Place into the oven at the exact time you put your Chops in.
5. Flip ever 20 minutes so your florettes do not become overly browned.
6. Done when tender.

Seasoned Mashed Potatoes

• 4-6 lbs of red skin or yukon gold potatoes, washed well.
• 1 stick of salted butter (cubed)
• 8 oz bar of cream cheese (cube)
• 2 tblsp of creole seasoning
• 1 tblsp of ground black pepper
• 6-8 cloves of fresh roasted garlic (substitute with garlic powder or the minced garlic in oil you can buy in the store).

1. In large pot, quarter your potatoes, and cover with cold water.
2. Place over high heat, and cover, until they boil.  Once boil turn down to medium/low
3. Once fork tender, pour off water, get as much as you can out of the pot or else you will have runny potatoes.
4. using a hand mixer, whip in your stick of butter, and cream cheese.  Once it is all thoroughly mixed together, whip in your seasoning.
5. Taste....may need more seasoning but is up to you!

Tiramisu

 Ingredients

• 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, plus 1 teaspoon,
• 1 1/4 cups dessert wine (I prefer to use either a coffee liqueur, godiva chocolate liqueur, or grand marnier instead)
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/4 cup cooled brewed espresso, or other strong coffee blend
• 1 cup ricotta or mascarpone cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 8-10 ounces ladyfingers or Margherite cookies from Stella Dora work well too
• Cocoa powder, garnish

1. Place the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, and stir until melted. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
2. In the top of a double boiler or in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, beat the egg yolks and 3 tablespoons of sugar until pale yellow and frothy. Add 1/2 cup of the wine and whip until thick, being careful not to let the mixture boil (may not look like a thick custard at this point, but will once chocolate is added). Remove from the heat and fold in the chocolate (make sure to mix quickly so you don't get chocolate chunks). Cool to room temperature.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, and fold into the cooled custard mixture.
4. In a bowl, combine the coffee, and ricotta and set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining teaspoon of sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.
6. Dip the ladyfingers into the remaining 3/4 cup of dessert wine (may need more) and arrange them in the bottom of a square 9-inch baking dish OR I like to use individual ramekins. Cover with half of the ricotta, half of the custard, and half of the whipped cream. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, starting with lady fingers and ending with whipped cream on top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, at least 3 hours.
7. To serve, sift the cocoa powder evenly over the top

**you may want to let this sit for longer than three hours, OR make the night before.  Make sure to not sift the cocoa powder until you are ready to serve, or else you will get mucky chocolate topping (does not look pretty).

Tiramisu