What's for dinner, hon?

"What's for dinner tonight?"

It can be the hardest question of the day to answer.  Maybe you aren't inspired, or maybe you ate a late lunch, so you aren't hungry.  One way or the other, there's nothing worse than standing in the produce aisle staring blankly at the arugula wondering what in the hell you're going to do.

Until fairly recently, I always started planning dinner around the protein - did I want beef, chicken, fish, pork...or something else?  That path leads to repetition and a distinct lack of options.  Lately, I've been thinking about things like taste and texture.  Do I want a stew or soup, or do I want something crunchy?  Do I have a craving for some particular ingredient?  If so, how to I satisfy that want/craving creatively?

So, today (after racking my brain for an hour) I hit on corn.  So - tonight's dinner is all about corn.

Seared pork chops with a roast corn salsa and caramelized corn and Cognac puree

That's what I've decided on.  Here's my plan:

Roast 2 ears of corn, strip kernels.
Strip 2 ears of uncooked corn of kernels.

For Salsa:
Combine roasted corn with roughly equal parts medium-dice tomatoes and avocado.  Toss with fresh-squeezed lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Let rest for an hour or so.  Toss with finely chopped cilantro, test seasoning and adjust if necessary.

For Puree:
Saute leeks in oil for a couple of minutes.  Add corn kernels, and stir together.  Lower heat, and caramelize corn and leeks.  Deglaze with a little Cognac, and flame. (Long lighter or match - I have burned the hair off my hands more than once!).  Place mixture in food processor/blender.  Puree.  Add in cream to taste, then push through Chinoise (a fine-mesh conical strainer).

For Pork:Season, dredge in flour, dip in egg wash, dredge in panko crumbs.  Saute until done, and panko is crispy.  

Plating:
Sauce bottom of 1/2 plate with puree.  Place chop in center of plate, top non-sauced half with salsa.  Eat.  And hopefully...enjoy!