A Feast for DAD

G & I both love to cook for my dad. Who doesn't love to cook for someone who really enjoys food? So father's day we made some dishes we knew had some of his favorite flavors. Because my Dad and my sister were both able to celebrate a father's day dinner with us at the last minute.

First on the menu were these superb crab stuffed jalapenos made on the grill.

Next was a recipe I was inspired to make based on a post I saw on Tastespotting from Eclectic Recipes' blog for Gorgonzola stuffed pork chops (Her photography by  far outshines mine. And Tastespotting is our new daily "check it out" obsession. Our goal is for some day to have one of my photos posted but I'm still far from that. Still trying to figure out how to resize the photo correctly...oh so much to learn.) I made a few adaptations to her recipe to create Spinach & Mushroom stuffed Pork Chops with Gorgonzola Sauce served with grilled potatoes & asparagus.

And my dad's favorite dessert; Strawberry Shortcake.

For our first course we made an adaptation to a recipe we've made a few times  from Cuisine At Home Weeknight Grilling issue. The recipe calls to stuff the jalapenos with corn and goat cheese. We had some left over lump crab meat to use so we used that and cream cheese to replace the corn & goat cheese. And my dad loves crab stuffed mushrooms so we were sure he'd love crab stuffed jalapenos.

G scooped out the jalapenos. Mixed lump crab, softened cream cheese, cumin and salt together and stuffed the jalapenos with it. I topped them with some crumbled jalapeno flavored tortilla chips.

We grilled them about 8-10 minutes, until the jalapenos soften & slightly char.

And these are so delicious. The grill takes away some of the heat somehow (?). And they are the perfect starter even for those folks who don't enjoy spicy so much like my sister.

For the pork chops I sauteed some mushrooms, garlic and spinach. After transferred to a bowl and cooled a bit, I added some crumbled Gorgonzola, salt & pepper.

 I butterflied the bone in pork chops and then stuffed and seasoned them well before searing them in the cast iron skillet.

Once they had a nice sear I moved them to oven to finish cooking. I then boiled my potatoes for about 8-10 minutes before tossing them with olive oil, salt & pepper and putting them in the grill pan and on the grill.

The par-cooking really helps with the texture when grilling potatoes we've found.

Next I chopped some more Gorgonzola and made a sauce..

with a little butter, whipping cream, milk, salt & pepper.

We sat a quick table

and were ready to serve dad our somewhat impromptu feast for Father's Day.

He was quite happy with his meal. He definitely enjoyed some of his favorite tastes.

After a quick break to finally book our annual family vacation house in Chelan it was time for dessert.

My dad loves strawberry shortcake but we aren't fans of those spongy store bought shortcakes that he's used to. I had some puff pasty in the freezer and I wanted to create a different kind of base for the strawberries. It didn't turn out exactly as I hoped but it worked pretty well. ( I wanted a deeper well to hold the chocolate sauce.)

I topped each pastry with some Bailey's chocolate sauce and sliced strawberries. G made a beautiful batch of whipped cream and then we shaved a little dark chocolate on top.

This pastry based strawberry shortcake was incredibly delicious and light which we all wanted because we were stuffed as usual.

For us there is not a better way to celebrate a holiday  & the people we love than with a great meal. And for my dad who eats way too many meals on the road, all over the U.S. he always enjoys a homemade meal made with love by his daughters & son in law.

We were already planning our August Chelan trip meals. That's what we do; while eating \ a great meal =  plan for the next.