Category: Chefs/Restaurants

Reverse-Sear Kurobuta Double-Bone Pork Chop

Reverse-Sear Kurobuta Double-Bone Pork Chop

Reverse-Sear Kurobuta Double-Bone Pork Chop
Parmesan Polenta & Pickled Cherry Pepper Sauce

Back in January 2013, I shared a recipe for Old School–Style Pork Chops with Pickled Cherry Pepper Sauce, and it has remained one of my most popular posts, with tens of thousands of views. But for 2026, I wanted to revisit it, elevate it, and give it the treatment it deserves.

I upgraded the pork to a Kurobuta double-bone chop, refined the technique with a reverse-sear for perfectly juicy edge-to-edge doneness, and captured the process in action shots, from searing to plating, to highlight color, texture, and the drama of cooking.

There are pork chops—and then there is the Kurobuta double-bone pork chop. Thick, succulent, and left intact with two bones, this chop is impossible to ignore. At 1.37 pounds, it’s more than enough for one, and honestly, it’s best shared.

Kurobuta pork, from the Berkshire breed, is prized for marbling, tenderness, and deep flavor, which makes it perfect for a reverse-sear. Slowly roasting the chop in the oven at low heat first ensures even doneness, then finishing with a hot sear gives a golden, caramelized crust. The result is juicy, tender meat with a gorgeously browned exterior.

The chop is the obvious star of the plate, served over creamy Parmesan polenta, which provides a soft, tasty contrast. To balance the richness, it is dressed with the pickled cherry pepper sauce that made the original recipe a favorite. Bright, tangy, and mildly spicy, it lifts the pork and polenta while highlighting the depth of the Kurobuta chop without overpowering it.

Kurobuta Double-Bone Pork Chop, Pickled Cherry Pepper Sauce

Reverse-Sear Pork Chop Recipe

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Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience

Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience

Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience
Holiday Cactus Garden

🍫🍫🍫 🍷🍷🍷 🌵🌵🌵

Las Vegas during the holidays has its own kind of magic, especially in places off the Strip that locals know well but tourists often miss—like the Ethel M Cactus Garden.

Ethel M Holiday Cactus Garden

We recently attended the Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience, and it truly exceeded our expectations. What we assumed would be a straightforward tasting turned into a relaxed, informative, and genuinely fun way to savor chocolate alongside perfectly paired wines.

Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience

The guided tasting lasts about 40–50 minutes and features five seasonal chocolates, each paired with a wine selected by Ethel M’s Chief Chocolatier, Mark Markey. Along the way, we learned how chocolate is sourced, refined, and made—without it feeling technical or heavy.

Ethel M Chocolate & Wine Experience

🍫 Ethel M 🍫

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Halibut Francese

Halibut Francese

Halibut Francese

Halibut Francese is a beautiful twist on the Italian-American classic chicken francese — light, lemony, and elegant. It pairs the tender flakiness of halibut with a silky lemon-sherry-butter sauce that’s both savory and bright.

Francese means “in the French style” in Italian. Chicken Francese has its roots in Italian-American cooking, though its name suggests something more continental. Despite the “French” in the title, the dish was created by Italian immigrants in New York—thin chicken cutlets dipped in flour and egg, sautéed until golden, and finished in a lemon-butter sauce. In many restaurants, it’s still served over strands of spaghetti or angel hair to catch every drop of that sauce.

Halibut Francese

A recent meal at the fabulous new Italian restaurant, Nudo Italiano, in southwest Las Vegas, brought back memories of the classic Chicken Francese we loved in Chicago’s Italian-American restaurants decades ago. That flavor profile inspired my modern interpretation: wild Alaska halibut cooked Francese-style with an eggy twist, served with a lemon-sherry-butter sauce and complemented by caramelized baby bok choy and peppery watercress.

Nudo Italiano
Chicken Francese at Nudo Italiano

My Halibut Francese builds on that classic approach with a few refinements. A fillet of halibut is sautéed in the traditional Francese method but with the extra egg poured over as it cooks, creating a delicate, golden coating. The fish is plated over a pool of lemon-sherry sauce to keep the crust crisp, while braised baby bok choy adds gentle sweetness and contrast. A few sprigs of fresh watercress bring a clean, peppery lift. The result is a bright, elegant plate that feels both familiar and new — comfort elevated with subtle sophistication.

Halibut Francese
With Braised Baby Bok Choy Recipe

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Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle

Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle

Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle

Quick, refined, and full of taste, this filet mignon dish proves that a luxurious meal doesn’t have to take hours to prepare. Jacques Pépin’s concept of a “quick stew”—his Instant Beef Tenderloin Stew—redefines what a rich, satisfying dish can be. The tender beef cooks in minutes yet delivers remarkable depth, showing that speed and finesse can coexist.

I’ve paired it with a simplified version of Wolfgang Puck’s Spätzle, sautéed in butter with a touch of parsley to complement the sauce beautifully. The result brings together two powerhouse chefs in one memorable dinner—balanced, flavorful, and a clear winner at our dinner party.

Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle

What makes this dish so special is how each component is prepared separately to bring out its best qualities. The filet is seared just long enough to develop a rich crust while staying tender inside, the vegetables are cooked to maintain their color and texture, and the spätzle is sautéed in butter to carry the sauce without overpowering it.

By bringing everything together in a glossy, flavorful red wine–beef sauce, the dish achieves a perfect balance of richness, freshness, and finesse—all without simmering for hours.

Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle

Filet Mignon Stew with Spätzle Recipe

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Shrimp and Chayote Stir-Fry

Shrimp and Chayote Stir-FryShrimp and Chayote Stir-Fry

Adapted from The Slanted Door, Modern Vietnamese Food by Charles Phan, this stir-fry is light and refreshing.

Chayote aka mirliton is crisp, pale-green squash with a delicate flavor and tender crunch, somewhere between zucchini and green papaya. It holds up beautifully in a quick stir-fry and absorbs seasonings well.

Here, the colors and textures are part of the appeal. The light green chayote stays crisp-tender, while the shrimp turn soft pink and slightly springy. Together they create a clean contrast — cool green and warm pink, crisp and juicy against sweet and firm. Tossed with air-dried Momofuku noodles, it becomes a complete dish — the noodles soaking up the light, savory sauce and tying together the light jade and blush pink in a tangle of satisfying chew.

Shrimp and Chayote Stir-Fry Recipe

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