Last Supper in Chicago

My last week in Chicago was a whirlwind.  Up to the last day I was working on finishing and cleaning up my 12 page research paper on electric rickshaws in India.  At the same time, I was designing a presentation about my work and preparing for questions to defend my work.  Then the little things like packing all my things into not enough bags, cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, grocery shopping, running errands, etc. I gave my final presentation, said goodbyes, and rushed to the apartment to finish packing and get ready for the airport.  I was so busy that I had to make my last supper the week before I left, but oh was it a good one.

I've mentioned before how amazing the Green City Farmers' Market, in Chicago, is and that it has an amazing selection of high-quality food.  I usually only allowed myself to buy vegetables, but for my last week I splurged on meat.  But this was not just any run of the mill meat.  After talking to all the stand owners, I decided to buy from a local supplier of Berkshire Pork.  They had ribs, butt, bacon, and two types of pork chops.  I decided to go with the t-bone steak of pork, the bone in pork rib chop.  It was a little pricey, but I have been lucky enough to taste Berkshire Pork once before in my life.  I have forever been converted and ruined from eating grocery store pork.  The Berkshire makes conventional pork taste like a McRib.  This special, rare pig breed has a much more concentrated "pork" flavor and is incredibly juicy due to the high marbling.  Each bite packs a huge punch of flavor that will knock your socks off.  For meals with produce like this, I like to let it be the star of the show without too many fancy accompaniments or flavor enhancements.  The meat is so succulent and flavorful on its own that I don't want to tamper with it.  I also like to cook from inspiration without a lot of recipe structure.  As I mentioned earlier, I had some wonderful 18 year vintage sweet balsamic vinegar.  On the counter were some bruised and past edible peaches.  Hmmm... salty pork, acid vinegar, sweet peaches.  To cook the pork chop, I took a note from steak preparation.  I super heated a cast-iron skillet then slapped on the chop to let it sizzle for a few minutes per side until is was crusty and caramelized, but still raw in the middle.  It finished cooking in a 350 oven for a few minutes until is was just above pink.  To deglaze the pan, I added a generous splash of balsamic and chicken stock.  I let that boil, then added sliced peaches, and let it reduce to a thick, dark sauce.  The dish was very simple and elegant.  The seared pork chop was juicy with an intense natural pork flavor and the peach-balsamic sauce lended complex notes of sweet and sour that didn't over power the meat.  I was told that it was the best pork chop ever made and the bone had to be gnawed on to get all the goodness.  For the side dishes I had some inedible, week-old stale bread, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, green beans and great vinegar.  The first thing that came to mind was the classic tucsan bread salad, panzanella. It was designed as a way to use up old bread that cannot otherwise be eaten, much like bread pudding.  My sister, and fellow food lover and cook, first made this for me a few years ago and I fell in love with this simple salad.  It has a wide range of flavors and textures: crunchy, soft, chewy, cheesey, acidic, sweet, salty.  It's one of my favorite summer dishes because it really highlights all the best produce of the summer farmers' market.