Chops

Bluestone 11 W. Aylesbury Road, Timonium -- 410-561-1100 Hours --11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sundays Restaurant's estimate --10-15 minutes Ready in --18 minutes Though this pork chop was the thickest of the three we tried, it fell short of our expectations. It was overcooked and drier than the others. Side dishes of decent mashed potatoes and crisp broccolini were served with the order, $19.95. Know of a good carryout place?

I applaud the Call of Duty Endowment for its funding of employment services for veterans ("Amvets awarded $250,000 grant to open veterans career centers," March 20). But private generosity alone won't close the 5 percentage point employment gap between young vets and their civilian peers. Yet as with so many other necessary functions of government, gridlock in Washington imperils services for veterans. Budget cuts mandated by the sequester will de-fund housing aid, job training and other services veterans require.

Ravens running back Ray Rice, whose legs are like those of a mid-sized rhino, endorses a workout supplement called RipFire. To promote the product, he recently filmed a video for FOX Sports with Bernie, the Baltimore fan who has given me fodder for past blog posts such as an Orioles version of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and former Ravens back Willis McGahee busting out dance moves , including "The Carlton. " If you are like me and you enjoyed Rice's performance in those M&T Bank commercials, you'll want to see his fine acting in this video.

Most people go to farmers' markets in search of that perfect tomato or apple, meats are also sold at many of them. That's right, beef, chicken, pork and even bison can be found in the stalls at most farmers' markets in the area. Pork is among my favorites. Fatty, lean, smoked or plain, I can eat pork in countless ways. I'm even a fan of the parts that most supermarkets don't sell, such as the ears, jowls, feet and tails (which all can be bought at the farmers' market), but I'm a sucker for the classic pork chop.

For easy weekday entertaining, these tiny chops look elegant - and with the help of your butcher, they're very simple to prepare. Look for frenched racks of lamb in the butcher section or freezer section of your supermarket. You'll identify them because the bones of the rack will be exposed and cleaned of any meat. You will need two racks to feed four people. Beverage pairing A spicy zinfandel provides a nice fruitiness to team with the lamb and beans. Tip Cut each rack into thin chops using each bone as your guideline.

These grilled pork chops are bursting with a surprise stuffing -- one that's based on pasta. Acini de pepe (little peppercorn in Italian) is a very tiny, round pasta that cooks about twice as fast as other noodles. You'll find it in the pasta section of your supermarket.Honey-orange pork chopsMakes 4 servings.2 medium oranges2 tablespoons honey1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard2 tablespoons orange marmalade2 tablespoons vinegar3/4 cup chicken broth1/2 cup acini de pepe4 green onions, thinly sliced1/4 teaspoon ground ginger1/2 cup finely chopped celery4 pork loin rib chops, cut 1 1/4 inches thickPeel and section the oranges over a bowl, reserving any juice.

Lately I've been cooking boneless pork chops in place of the ubiquitous chicken breast. All chicken, all the time - it just gets too boring. I like to rub the chops with a mixture of salt, pepper and that great flavorful smoked paprika from Spain called pimenton. The paprika is a great match for pork of any kind. After pan-frying the chops, I add a light glaze of barbecue sauce for a touch of sweetness. Sauteed sweet onions echo the flavor of the sauce for a great side dish. Carol Mighton Haddix is food editor of the Chicago Tribune, which provided the recipe analysis.

FEBRUARY IS A bummer. It is dark. It is cold. It is boring. Mercifully, it is short, and some of the victims of this miserable month have devised ways to cope with it.Recently I read about two methods, both involving food. One is: You generate warmth. You hunker down in the homestead with comfortable companions. You admit that the weather is rotten. And you fix a warm meal.Another is denial. You wheel in imported sunshine. You decorate the place with flowers and fruits, put pineapple salsa on your steak and eat papayas for dessert.

Live jazz, poetry readings on Wednesday nights, fried chicken and smothered pork chops -- Cade's Cafe at 25 N. Liberty St. has it all. Not to mention that Gospel Sundays should be starting up sometime soon.The restaurant is an offshoot of Indigo Blues and Mama's Kitchen in New York City. The specialty is Southern food, from a catfish sandwich at lunch to ribs, collard greens and candied yams at dinner. Most of the recipes are from the mama in question, Margaret Hill, the mother of one of the owners.

It's an election year. So naturally, sales of ginger- and lemongrass-infused lobster spring rolls with avocado wasabi mousse are through the roof. The rubber-chicken circuit is giving way in Baltimore to something hip enough to sit on square plates: campaign tapas. Politicians and guava-glazed ribs alike are getting a good grilling at "Politics '06 at 6," a weekly forum Tuesday evenings at Eden's Lounge in Mount Vernon. Think Arbutus Roundtable, except for the chi-chi fare, the mostly black crowd and the live band that tunes up as the pols wind down.

Paul Newman thought it should be eaten with a spoon. Baltimore restaurant owner Sascha Wolhandler calls it "a fabulous amalgam of flavor in every bite. " It's the chopped salad, and it's having a field day in Baltimore. A chopped salad featured on the summer restaurant week menu at Heavy Seas Alehouse proved so popular that it's been put on the permanent dinner menu. Sergio Vitale, co-owner of Chazz: A Bronx Original, is considering making the lunch menu's steakhouse salad a dinner item, too. "It's definitely the No. 1 most popular lunch item and people ask for at dinner, too," Vitale said about the salad, which he says is an homage to a version served at Ruth's Chris Steak House.

We seem to be a bit schizophrenic about trees these days. Given the extended power outages of the last two summers, BGE - with the mandate, encouragement and cheers of many - has been on a tree-trimming tear. Wherever it can, it is trimming, troughing and topping off trees to eliminate branches that might fall on its wires. When none of these lesser tactics is deemed sufficient by BGE officials, they cut. In my neighborhood alone, I counted no fewer than 50 trees taken down, from crown to ground.

It all caught up with University of Maryland swimmers and divers, men's cross country runners, women's water polo players and other athletes young enough to have rarely confronted limits on their talents and dreams. All of the team members had faced losing before. That's part of competition. But by Saturday - the date Maryland set long ago to officially eliminate teams absent an infusion of private funds - many of the athletes had been overtaken by a deeper sort of pain and disappointment.

       The New York Mets held up posting their lineup for a while this afternoon, waiting on who'd be starting for the Orioles.     Jake Arrieta was scheduled - and Jake Arrieta it will be.      Although he almost was wiped out by what he thinks was a bad pork chop at the team hotel in Atlanta on Saturday night.     Arrieta said he had terrible food poisoning on Sunday, couldn't keep any food down. And the Orioles wanted to see how he was this afternoon before allowing him to make his start.

The Sun exhorts us to "Speak for the trees" (March 3). That's exactly what more than 2,200 people did when they signed petitions to save the trees in the Mount Vernon Place parks. The plan presented by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy (MVPC) to the Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation (CHAP) envisions the removal of all (except one) the existing trees and their replacement by 6" and 8" caliber trees. We think that only dead and dying trees should be removed and replaced.

Recipes for Coffee-rubbed pork chops and Blood orange martini Peake reflects: During a trip to the Dominican Republic, chef Anthony Peake dined at a local Dominican restaurant that served traditional Hispaniola fare. For dinner, he was served pork chops with an orange and coffee marinade. Using inspiration from his trip, he created the Coffee-rubbed Pork Chop featured entree for The Stanford Grill. Coffee-rubbed Pork Chops Ingredients: * 8  7 oz. pork chops (bone in)

After an especially long and hot Ohio summer, I was thrilled to wake up a few weeks ago to a perfect fall day. Finally, the air was crisp, the high temperature was predicted to be a desirable 65 degrees, and it was sunny.As a cook, I could not resist the temptation to telephone a group of friends and ask them to come for an impromptu fall dinner that night.Of all the fall dishes prepared for that party, the pork chops were my favorite. They are seasoned with salt and pepper, coated in flour and browned in oil. The chops are then placed in a baking dish and topped with caramelized onions and stock.

Rodney Henry, the founder and frontman of Dangerously Delicious Pies, competed on the Food Network's "Chopped" on Sunday night. New episodes typically debut on Tuesday night; the Sunday night airing was a bit of a Food Network departure. Henry's episode, Trick of Treat, Chicken Feet! , will show again on Tuesday at 9 p.m. and a few hours later at 1 a.m., on Oct. 22 at 9 p.m. and midnight and on the Oct. 23rd at 2 p.m. Chopped finds some of its contestants through auditions, but, in Henry's case, the show came to him. So, if you missed it the first time.....

Ravens running back Ray Rice, whose legs are like those of a mid-sized rhino, endorses a workout supplement called RipFire. To promote the product, he recently filmed a video for FOX Sports with Bernie, the Baltimore fan who has given me fodder for past blog posts such as an Orioles version of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails and former Ravens back Willis McGahee busting out dance moves , including "The Carlton. " If you are like me and you enjoyed Rice's performance in those M&T Bank commercials, you'll want to see his fine acting in this video.