LCBO Food and Drink Winter 2016

BY CHRISTOPHER ST. ONGE  •  PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROB FIOCCA

ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT, THESE FIVE FLAVOURFUL MEAT RECIPES COOKED ON THE BONE GO WAY BEYOND STANDARD PORK CHOP FARE—AND SERVING THEM ALONGSIDE WINTER BEERS HEIGHTENS THE EXPERIENCE.

Chops are the antidote to winter’s chill. The first chophouses opened in the 17th century in London, England, where serving individual pieces of meat, on-the-bone and made-to-order, was a novelty. In the intervening years, food fashions have come and gone, but the popular­ ity of modern steak houses proves the enduring appeal of the chop. Cooking and eating meat on the bone feels primal, comforting, and offers a satisfaction that boneless, skinless chicken breasts will never make you feel.    A gorgeous salt-crusted porterhouse served with a luxurious mushroom sauce, and Milanese-

style veal chops with a quick and satisfying rel- ish are both doable weeknight dinners, made in 45 minutes or so. And the same goes for the lamb chops—with a little planning; just make the addictive haydari ahead and have it waiting in the fridge.     Weekends, on the other hand, were made for recipes like our fabulous brined and stuffed pork chops, or long-stewed venison chops in a crazy-delicious old-school sauerbraten , the kind of braise that will have you leaving the house just so you can come back in to smell its intoxicating aroma anew.

BOTTLE SHOTS BY MICHAEL MAHOVLICH

FOOD & DRI NK WINTER 2016 49