Rosemary Scented Pork Chops with a Balsamic Cinnamon Glaze accompanied by Artichoke hearts with Bleu Cheese and Crumbled Bacon

Tonight's dinner was inspired by a fellow foodie friend's gift, Cinnamon! (Thank you sooooo much again, you know who you are!)  But not just any cinnamon, Vietnamese cinnamon (aka  Saigon Cinnamon) which is one of the finest of 'cinnamons' due to it's high oil content of 25% which is the largest amount in any cinnamon so you don't use as much of this cinnamon as you would another kind. Gosh I was tickled pink to have gotten this amazing gift!!!  Not all cinnamon is created equal and you need to know that.  What makes this cinnamon special is where it is grown which is in central Vietnam. You could not get it in the states for the longest time and yes, I knew this.  It comes with a higher price tag than any other cinnamon, but well worth it for your culinary creations, main meal to desserts.  Did you know that this cinnamon comes from an evergreen tree?  Interesting little tidbits about cinnamon.  Gosh I'm such a food geek... =) Ok, anyway on to the dish.  So I'm in the market knowing I wanted to do pork with cinnamon, but not knowing exactly yet what I wanted to do with it.  Then I saw the chops,  Ok, here is where I need to share with you a picture of these beautiful cuts of pork. (I had the butcher cut them special for me).  These are bone in chops.

See how you can get inspired from such a gorgeous cut?  I can anyway!  So my mind was spinning with amazing ideas so I came up with what was the most amazing flavorful pork you will ever ever taste, I promise you.  I brought out so many flavors of this pork with the finest of ingredients that compliments pork.  All inspired by one little jar of cinnamon... that is how my mind works, I can't stop it, I can't change the fact I think about recipes all the time.  I just enjoy food so much and melding flavors together to be oh so roll your eyes back in your head amazing.  There are quite a few steps to this dish, but not too difficult to do, just time consuming but well worth all the efforts put into it. I will number the steps in the order they go so it's easier to follow.  So grab a glass of wine, put on the Jazz and go get your groove on in the kitchen. =)

1) Step one: The brine.  A little blurb about brines.  A brine is basically salt and water (and sometimes a little sugar and other herbs) to help cure flavorless meats and add many levels of tenderness over several hours of sitting in the brine.  I use a salt brine for Thanksgiving turkey and get the most moist tender turkey that doesn't get caught in your throat when you swallow. (don't laugh, you know what I mean!)hahaha I also LOVE to brine pork chops.  Pork chops in general don't have that much flavor to them unless around the fatty parts.... but in general pork is very lean so there is very little fat to add robust flavor.  This is where a brine comes in handy.

What you need for the brine:

~4 1"thick cut pork chops bone in (don't trim excess fat off)

~2 Cups white wine (not cooking wine)

~6 Cups water

~1/2 Cup salt

~1 Packet of splenda OR 1 Tbsp sugar

~1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary.  Before chopping, remove only the leaves of the rosemary and chop those.  The stem to me is very bitter.

1/4 Tsp Peppercorn whole

Let's get to work on this brine:

1) Ok this is the easiest part of the dish to create as the fridge and time does all the work.  Put all the above in a large bowl, just not the pork yet.  Stir around carefully until the salt dissolves.  Now you can add your beautiful pork chops.  The peppercorn and rosemary will be floating and that's ok.  That's why I called it "scented with rosemary", so you will get just a hint of rosemary flavor.  Make sure your pork is completely covered.  Add a little more water if you need to just enough to cover.  Place in fridge for no less then 6 hours and no more than 24.  Easy right?!  Here is what it should look like:

Let's get to work on step 2:
Ok, so your pork has now been bathing in a bath of luxury for at least 6 hours for your eating pleasure later, let's forget about the pork and concentrate on artichokes.  Don't choke now, you can do this.... artichokes can be challenging to those who are used to just buying the jarred or canned variety.  Listen, chokes are not that hard to peel down and prepare.  Are you ready? Good.. =)


Ok, so you can buy chokes as I'll call them in short.. by the way, do you know why they call them artichokes???  I do, I do!!!  I'll tell you, because at the very center of a fresh artichoke is what they call the "thorns" which basically is a dandelion puff protecting the heart of the artichoke.  How do I know these things???  I have know clue... =)  Anyway, those little fuzzy things in the middle of a choke protecting the best part of the artichoke are not edible and would "choke" you, hence the name... seriously... Anyway, they are not hard to prepare fresh... here is a picture of the kind I bought here in Switzerland with the outside leaves which are meaty and also yummy, removed...  You can also see I cut one in half so you can see it's choking qualities... =)

From the purple down to the end of the fuzzy layer, you need to cut out.  Easy, really, it is...  I do it quartered, some people cut it out after cutting off the top part until you see the purple part of the choke appear.  I find it much easier quartered.  Once you do this, rinse them and immediately immerse in lemon water to prevent browning.


Seriously though, if you don't want to attempt this, that's ok!  Soon enough, just buy the canned kind, not the pickled kind and you can do my recipe with it as well.  If you do these fresh, you will get 1 heart from each choke, but quartered it will obviously equal 4 pieces, so you would need 8 artichoke hearts total for this recipe.


Step 3: Ok, so you have your artichoke hearts in a bowl of lemon water.  Now you need to remove them and place in a baking pan and add 1 cup of wine, a shake of salt all over and 1/2 cup water.  The chokes will not be covered completely.  Place in a 125 degree oven for 45 minutes, stirring once at the half point.


Step 4: You will need about 3 1/2 Tbsp of crisped diced bacon, and save the fat in the pan as you will use this pan 2 more times, so don't wash it!!!  Once bacon is done, place on a paper towel to drain the fat and save the extra fat in the pan, you will need this twice!!!


Step 5:  While the chokes are braising and bacon is draining, let's get started on the Cinnamon balsamic glaze.  I call this my 1/4 Cinnamon balsamic glaze because all ingredients equal 1/4 tsp or cup! =)  So 

What you need for Cinnamon glaze:
~ 1/4 Cup white wine
~ 1/4 Cup good quality balsamic glaze (not just balsamic vinegar.  Usually is found where the balsamic vinegar is stocked in the stores.
~ 1/4 Tsp red pepper flakes (omit if you don't like heat)
~1/4 Tsp Cinnamon
~2 Packets Splenda OR 2 Tbsp sugar
~1/4 Tsp salt
~1/4 Tsp fresh squeezed lemon
~1/4 Tsp Djion mustard
~1/4 Tsp saved bacon fat from the bacon cooked. 


Let's get to work:
1) Add all to a small sauce pot and simmer, only simmer until it reduces and becomes thicker, about 30 to 45 minutes.  You will notice it thicker.  Take off heat and set aside.


Step 6: Almost done!!  Drain artichoke hearts and add to the pan that you sauteed the pork in with 1 tbsp almond slivers and 1/2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp of the reserved bacon.  Sautee about 10 minutes.  place in a casserole dish and top with a generous shred of Grana padano cheese, more bacon and then bleu cheese in dollaps all over the  chokes.  Bake covered at 300 degrees until tender, about 30 minutes.


Step 7: Meanwhile, drain pork and blot with paper towels until completely dry.  Add to a screaming hot pan that you browned the bacon in and sautee to brown on each side for 3 minutes.  No peaking between turns. =)  Transfer to grill on medium heat once done and grill for about 10 minutes each side brushing with some of the balsamic glaze to caramelize.  Turn grill off after 20 minutes and let rest.  


Serve on a plate with balsamic glaze on top and serve artichoke hearts along side with dollops of fresh bleu cheese and remaining bacon.  Add a sprig of fresh rosemary and just enjoy.  I know it seems like too many steps, but.....It's truly a foodie delight!!!!! really, I mean seriously, this is an awesome dish that was just inspired by given the gift of Vietnamese cinnamon.... =)