Summertime and the livin’ is easy….

Pan-seared pork chop with a lemon-marjoram vinaigrette served over hash of baby chard, tiny new potatoes and my own home cured tesa – damn, this was good. Pork chop and belly for the *tesa are from Tea Hills Farm; vegetables from Chef’s Garden.

And speaking of Chef’s Garden, last night, random.org selected a winner for the two tickets to Chef’s Garden 2009 Food and Wine Celebration. Sarah #65 who loves grilled vegetables with goat cheese (me too!), congratulations and come on down!

The contest was so much fun – sure, you were coerced into commenting by the promise of a fantastic prize, but I loved the sharing and community your thoughts and recipes brought to the table. After all, the table and sharing is what it is all about anyway, and it felt like a party happening right on the page. So I thank you – please don’t hesitate to comment on any future postings. I can’t wait to try out some of your favorite vegetable recipes, and hopefully you were able to pick up some tasty vegetable inspiration for yourself.

And thank you, Farmer Lee Jones, for all of the vegetable magic you work out there at Chef’s Garden. Go Veggie U!

*Tesa: “The most common form of flat cured belly is Tesa. Tesa means “extended,” and its name refers to the long stretch of the pork belly and the habit of curing it flat. Unlike the furled pancetta that requires a relatively longer time to mature, Tesa is ready to eat in a matter of 8-15 days”. From Cooking by Hand, Paul Bertolli.