The Death Of Jim & John! Or, I Wonder If Ray Was Going Through a Mid-Life Crisis In His Twenties. Grilled Double Cut Pork Rack with Asian Kale SaladPork

Drunken Grilled Pork Chops

Asian Kale Salad

I grew up a very imaginative and precocious little boy and my closest friend was my little sister Joanie. We used to play a game called Jim & John, a "Soap Opera" of sorts. All we would do is go around in our imaginary cars and make up imaginary adult situations like going to the job daily or going out to meet our cool friend Ray (more on him later) for evening cocktails. Whatever the situation we would "act this play out" for hours at a time and have a ball doing so.

Now on to Ray! If Jim and John were 23-25ish then Ray had to be about 25-27ish. Where Jim & John were average Joe's that happened to be brothers and seemed to lead a humble but meaningful life, those characters we played seemed to be bogged down with minutia. Ray on the other hand was the coolest guy ever.. This dude drove a hot red Corvette convertible, played all the right jams (AWB, EWF, Lenny White, Roy Ayers, and of course Led Zep), had a fly job (he was a executive of some sort), made bank, ran the ladies, took flack from no-one and was normally played by my older very cool sister Cheryl.. There were a few times that myself or Joanie would play him out of necessity but we normally left him out of preferring instead to wait until Cheryl was free and wanted to be bothered to join us. I do remember however, when we would get bored with each other (Jim & John) we would turn to each other and say: "I wonder what our cool friend Ray is up to?" Enter Ray, inject automatic cool... Man this dude was smooth.....

Funny thing happened along the way! We just stopped playing Jim & John, they just up and went away. No last show, no cancellation notice not even the obligatory re-union show with all of the drama of the camera soliloquy dimin' on how Ray was a show off, or Ray talking about how sick and tired he was of bringing all of the cool to these to corny cats Jim & John. Funny thing about growing up is you seem to outgrow childish things , dreams and fantasies, which is not only expected but fine. I just hope that we can all keep a childish sense of humor and wonder, I think it might just keep us more tolerant of the changes that we go through and of our differences no matter what those things may be or look like.

I imagine by now those characters are all in their 60's, having seen the world, experienced a lifetime of ups and downs. Ray I'm sure is dating a 23 year old and lives in the south of France, while Jim & John undoubtedly broke out of their shells to become providers with large families and probably live somewhere in the suburbs. I'm also sure that they have kept in touch from time to time, post cards, Xmas cards and other things that would bind them. Whatever it is they didn't really need us to continue their relationships they just need us to remember them fondly and think of how they helped bored kids to stay out of trouble and even gave those kids life lessons and principles that are still inherent in each of us to this day. If I am cool, it's due to Ray!(Cheryl) If I am a bit nerdy then I guess that's Jim or John (me or Joanie).

Crawford Kids circa mid 70's by the Garb right??? 

One day a few weeks back I talked to Joanie about Jim and John and we cracked up about all of the memories we had about it. It was funny because I was sure that I was the only one that remembered it and I had even considered that I imagined the whole thing. As we talked, my sister Cheryl said"y'all remember Ray?" I was floored, surely Ray was too cool to remember corny ass Jim and John or could it be that Jim & John had the same effect on Ray? Well, just a thought. I love the way I grew up, big shout out to Fort Washington, Md....................

Drunken Double Cut Chop With Asian Kale

On the menu today: Double-Cut Grilled Pork Rack & Asian Kale Salad

Juicy Chop

For the Pork we will need the following:

• Double-Cut Pork Chops  (1 pp)
• Garlic (1 Tbs)
• Dijon Mustard (1 Tbs)
• Wray & Nephew Over Proof Rum (1 Cup)
• Olive Oil (1 Tbs)
• Rice Vinegar (1 tsp)
• Soy Sauce (1 Tbs)
• Brown Sugar (1 tsp)

If you buy the rack of pork connected (still intact) cut the chops double the normal size or about 4 inches thick. Take the other ingredients and combine them to make the marinade. Allow the chops to marinate for no longer than 45 minutes. *I am no fan of allowing things to marinate to the point of overwhelming the natural taste. Remember after all,  you bought the pork because it was pork. 

Preheat the oven to 425. Once the pork is done marinating dry off one side thoroughly with a paper towel and season with coarse salt before placing in a heated and oiled skillet. Allow the chop to stay in the pan undisturbed for 3-5 minutes before flipping and placing directly in the oven and cooking for 7-10 minutes or to your desired internal temperature (doneness). I eat mine a bit more than medium rare but that's just me.

Spicy Asian Kale Salad

For the Asian Kale Salad we will need the following:

• Kale (2-3 bunches)
• Carrots (2 each)
• Shallots (5 each)
• Apples (1 each)
• Soy Sauce (2 tsp)
• Olive Oil (2 Tbs)
• Sesame Seeds (1 Tbs)
• Rice Vinegar (1 tsp)
• Salt & Pepper (T T)
• Wasabi Powder (1 Tbs)

Spicy Kale

Start making the dressing by adding the soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, wasabi powder, sesame seeds, and salt & pepper to taste. Cut the kale into ribbons or strips, julienne the apples, grate the carrots once peeled and julienne the shallots. Toss with the dressing as you would any other salad, adding a sprinkle of sesame seeds for garnish before serving.

*Look for the Jim & John Series to come soon.