I made my favorite brined/grilled pork chop dinner tonight for my wife and son, and an outside receiver.
The recipe comes from an old restauranteur that I befriended many years ago. On many an afternoon, I would go to this little pub on West 57th snd 10th Ave. for dinner. An friendly old soul (kinda looking like Santa Claus) always sat at the end of the bar, and since I was by myself and didn't want to take up one of the few tables, I just as often ate at the bar next to him.
We struck up many conversations, not the least of which were stories of his life as a merchant seaman. He was such an interesting guy, and always had great suggestions on what was the best thing on their menu on any given day. I never had a less than great dinner there. Everything from brined and grilled pork, or sauteed whole fish (the sardines were killer), to strange and delicious corn, potato, and shellfish dishes, to many other meals that introduced me to foods from up and down the Atlantic coast of both North and South America.
It took me a while, but I eventually figured out that HE was the freakin' owner of the pub. These were all recipes from his travels on ships in the western Atlantic.
I miss my talks, and especially my dinners with ol' Jimmy Armstrong. He was a fascinating and kind person.
So tonigh, in his honor, I made his grilled marinated pork chops, rice and beans, and fried sweet plantains.
He never gave out his recipes, but he'd give out clues every once in a while, and I think I've finally gotten as close as anyone to those great chops.