People who cook like this on a Monday night should probably blog about it.  Let’s scroll back 72 hours.  Friday night I got home to a box on the porch from Amazon.  It held riches of books-one being Sorella.   Sorella is billed by Amazon as 100 bold gutsy comfort-based Northern Italian dishes inspired by the restaurant of the same name in NYC.  I think I am a total tool because I bought it because (I think) it was an Amazon recommendation.  For real?  Who does that?  But the minute I flipped through I knew i had done the right thing.   The dishes are for real cheffy fare and for me–super inspirational.  Fast forward 48 hours to Sunday.  I made brine while I cooked dinner last night.  I let it cool to room temperature and submerged four 1″ thick pork chops in a bowl under the brine and weighted down the top with a plate  to keep them under.  I shoved the whole thing in the fridge and forgot about it until I got home tonight and remembered while I was pushing the mower through the yard.    After finishing up mowing I enlisted Z’s help to get dinner on the table.  We started the olive smashed potatoes which were scented with orange zest and a tiny bit of lemon juice and I quickly boiled (hang with me here) a pint of cherry tomatoes.  I plunged them into ice water and I PEELED them.  Cherry tomatoes.  Z pulled out our smoking gun and put some applewood smoke on them.  Then I made them into a delicious little vinaigrette.  What?  Who puts these flavors together.  Then I dried and put the chops on the grill pan after rubbing them in olive oil and a touch of sea salt.  We finished the chops in the oven.  The chops were briny and porky-kind of baconlike almost.  Because of the brine they were moist and the grill pan gave them the most fantastic char.  The potatoes?  Inspired.  Orange and olive?  Amazing.   I could taste the smoke on the tomatoes.   Best. Monday. Night. Dinner. Ever.  I am so looking forward to some deep dives into this book.