After all the years of buying, eating and cooking pork chops that had no flavor, I am very happy to have found the offerings of the Black Oak Farms. Nothing beats the taste of a grilled pork chop (on the bone). When I bought these cuts at the market, I imagined them paired with a nice mushroom risotto and some steamed cauliflower and broccoli. On this rainy weeknight, I took a couple of shortcuts in making a meal for the grown-ups that might even get one or both of the kids to try some too.

For the mushroom risotto, I took an assist from my old friend Trader Giotto (Trader Joe’s Italian cousin). I had a box of mushroom risotto mix and added my own finely diced onion and chopped porcini mushrooms. It took just as long to cook the mix as it would to have made risotto from scratch, so I will probably not buy it again. The texture was creamy and, with my additions, the taste was as good as any risotto I’ve eaten at a restaurant lately.

To prepare the pork chop, I rubbed a light coat of extra virgin olive oil and a dusting of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on each side. Then I tossed it onto the trusty old George Foreman grill and waited for the magic to happen.

The final touch I added was a bit of truffle oil and shaved Pecorino-Romano cheese over the risotto, after dishing it onto the plate. The combination of the juicy pork chop with a nice crust from the grill and the creamy, earthy risotto made for a weeknight supper that I will likely prepare again soon.