Recipe: Grilled Veal Rib Chops with Chinese Eggplant and Feta and Tomato Salad

As you probably guessed, I don't subscribe to buying food based on price or coupons available.  Rather, I purchase food based on freshness, quality, and value (don't interpret value as buying the lowest priced item, this behavior is illogical!).  I place a high value on the happiness and pleasure I derive from eating well and, in turn, I often spend a bit more than average on fresh produce, good quality meats and fish, bread, wine, dairy, eggs, etc.  In terms of eating out, I do cringe on spending a ton of money on restaurant food (even the variety that garners accolades from Michelin and the NY Times).  For example, I recently dined at the Blue Hill restaurant in New York (famed for their association with Blue Hill Farm and locally produced items) and came away disappointed in terms of the quality of the ingredients, preparation and outlandish cost (in my mind, there was no value in dining at Blue Hill because the cost did not justify the overall experience).  

With the above observation in mind, I put together a leisurely Sunday meal of grilled veal loin chops with Chinese eggplant and feta and a tomato salad.  I also had a few pieces of thinly sliced prosciutto and figs to hold me over during the cooking process.  

I prepared the locally raised veal chops on an outdoor grill with a generous amount of salt and pepper.  I use an old fashion Weber grill with wood charcoal (I think this is important).  The Chinese eggplant was grilled as well and tossed with feta cheese, lots of freshly ground pepper, kosher salt, olive oil, and chopped parsley.  Finely, I assembled a tomato salad with some very local tomatoes (from my parent's backyard), local basil, local cucumber, red onion, and lots of olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano from Calabria!

We consumed our meal with a glass of Pinot Noir from California (not my first choice, again, based on value, but it was a nice choice considering the oppressive heat and the grilled veal).