12 new potatoes, slightly pressed
24 asparagus spears, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 tablespoon butter, softened
salt

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the asparagus. Cook until browned and crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Remove the asparagus and add the olive oil to the pan, followed by the potatoes.
3. Brown all sides of the potatoes, then add the wine, cumin and lemon juice. Reduce heat and cover, simmering until tender, about 15-20 minutes.
4. Combine egg yolk and butter and stir into the pan. Use this as a sauce for the asparagus and potatoes. Season with salt to taste.

Makes 4 servings

4 six ounce pork chops, scored
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Season pork chops with salt, pepper and rosemary on both sides and place slices of garlic into the scored area of the chops.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the pork chops, browning on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.
3. Reduce heat and cover until cooked through to the center, about an additional 8 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

I think of the herbs I'm not particularly fond of, I'm coming around to rosemary a lot faster than, say, cilantro. Rosemary Pork Chops were actually pretty good, and since I've made identical and/or similar recipes before, it must be a matter of my tastes changing. Either that or that the new dried rosemary I have is cut small enough that I don't have to constantly pick woody bits out of my teeth. I only have 1 large burner on my stove top and I was using it for the vegetables, so I probably should've made the chops in the oven to get the lovely crisp, browned fat. Next time.

Rosemary goes great with lemon, so the pork chops were a great entree for the Lemon Potatoes and Asparagus I had with them. Potatoes are so versatile that you can pair them with virtually anything, but I'm not sure lemon works so well with them when they're hot. A lemon potato salad or something similar works a lot better than these baby potatoes that are essentially steamed in wine and lemon. Asparagus, on the other hand, could not be paired with anything better. The sauce is essentially a lazy hollandaise and it's absolutely perfect for asparagus, or pretty much any green vegetable, really. I know they don't look particularly saucy in the picture, but there was definitely enough sauce to go around.