cdkitchen > cooking experts > amy powell
You know that saying, "Can't always get what you want?" That seems to happen to me, often, when at the grocery store. Maybe I’ve been looking through a cookbook and I'll see a fabulous looking recipe for braised short ribs in coffee and stout. Then I arrive at the grocery store only to discover they are out of my key ingredient. Dinner plans foiled.
If I’m in a good mood and a creative place I don’t let these situations completely ruin my night. I might allow myself 30 seconds of sulking time to lament what could have been. But then I straighten up, suck back in my bottom lip, and regroup for Dinner Plan B. Instead of totally scrapping my original plan I will look around at what is available and see if I can improvise. Some of my best new meals come out this way.
Noted, not everyone enjoys adapting on the fly. My brother, Paul, is one such person. Last year for the Super Bowl he had sourced a yummy looking recipe for cassoulet. The recipe called for pork belly, Andouille sausage, and flageolet beans, among other things, but those three items were the key to the whole recipe. Upon arriving at his local Whole Foods, the best market in his area of Washington DC, he found no pork belly, no Andouille, no beans. He sent his girlfriend to Costco hoping they might be of more help in the meat department and he could substitute navy beans or cannellini beans for the flageolets. No such luck.
We talked several times that day. I had suggestions for meats to substitute: duck, chicken, rabbit would all work for the pork belly, and any number of pork sausages could work for the Andouille, if he just adjusted the seasoning of the dish with say, a little smoked paprika.
No, he gave up on the dish entirely. His disappointment was evident.
I have been in that same situation too many times. The most recent instance I was not even looking for anything that exotic: just duck, a bird that most Whole Foods stock liberally. Duck is one of my boyfriend’s favorite dishes. This was to celebrate his being home after a long work trip and to break in the kitchen of our new apartment.
To change up our routine a little bit I was planning a sauce to serve with the duck (we normally keep seasoning no more exotic than salt and pepper). Looking through an old cookbook, I found a recipe for a whole roasted duck glazed in a sauce of hoisin and honey. We were just doing breasts so I would need to adjust the technique--glazing just the skin side at the end for the last five minutes of cooking--and then reserving some sauce to be served alongside.
The man at my local Whole Foods meat counter told me they were out of duck. No legs, no breast, no confit, nothing. And they wouldn’t have any more for a month.
I hadn’t come prepared with a Plan B but I quickly regrouped. The sauce was still a good idea but what else could I serve it with? Whole Foods had some nice looking center cut pork chops, thick and pink, about two inches high. I took two.
Pork is far from an exact substitute for duck. And pork these days has been bred so lean I would need to replace some of the fat that would naturally have been in the duck breast with some melted butter stirred in with the hoisin and honey. A little spice is always nice with an Asian inspired sauce so I would stir in a touch of garlic chili sauce for the right amount of kick.
If my boyfriend was disappointed by our change in dinner plans he didn’t show it. When the juicy chops emerged, browned on each side and finished off in the oven, dripping in the sweet and spicy hoisin honey chops his eyes and mouth opened wide.
Even my brother recovered from his cassoulet disappointment. He found some nice pork loins, enough to feed a Super Bowl crowd, and made a tasty stuffing of bread, chorizo, chiles, and spices. If anyone was disappointed by Paul’s backup plan you would have never known. He improvised and the crowd went wild.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
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Delicious Plan B
You know that saying, "Can't always get what you want?" That seems to happen to me, often, when at the grocery store. Maybe I’ve been looking through a cookbook and I'll see a fabulous looking recipe for braised short ribs in coffee and stout. Then I arrive at the grocery store only to discover they are out of my key ingredient. Dinner plans foiled.
If I’m in a good mood and a creative place I don’t let these situations completely ruin my night. I might allow myself 30 seconds of sulking time to lament what could have been. But then I straighten up, suck back in my bottom lip, and regroup for Dinner Plan B. Instead of totally scrapping my original plan I will look around at what is available and see if I can improvise. Some of my best new meals come out this way.
Noted, not everyone enjoys adapting on the fly. My brother, Paul, is one such person. Last year for the Super Bowl he had sourced a yummy looking recipe for cassoulet. The recipe called for pork belly, Andouille sausage, and flageolet beans, among other things, but those three items were the key to the whole recipe. Upon arriving at his local Whole Foods, the best market in his area of Washington DC, he found no pork belly, no Andouille, no beans. He sent his girlfriend to Costco hoping they might be of more help in the meat department and he could substitute navy beans or cannellini beans for the flageolets. No such luck.
We talked several times that day. I had suggestions for meats to substitute: duck, chicken, rabbit would all work for the pork belly, and any number of pork sausages could work for the Andouille, if he just adjusted the seasoning of the dish with say, a little smoked paprika.
No, he gave up on the dish entirely. His disappointment was evident.
I have been in that same situation too many times. The most recent instance I was not even looking for anything that exotic: just duck, a bird that most Whole Foods stock liberally. Duck is one of my boyfriend’s favorite dishes. This was to celebrate his being home after a long work trip and to break in the kitchen of our new apartment.
To change up our routine a little bit I was planning a sauce to serve with the duck (we normally keep seasoning no more exotic than salt and pepper). Looking through an old cookbook, I found a recipe for a whole roasted duck glazed in a sauce of hoisin and honey. We were just doing breasts so I would need to adjust the technique--glazing just the skin side at the end for the last five minutes of cooking--and then reserving some sauce to be served alongside.
The man at my local Whole Foods meat counter told me they were out of duck. No legs, no breast, no confit, nothing. And they wouldn’t have any more for a month.
I hadn’t come prepared with a Plan B but I quickly regrouped. The sauce was still a good idea but what else could I serve it with? Whole Foods had some nice looking center cut pork chops, thick and pink, about two inches high. I took two.
Pork is far from an exact substitute for duck. And pork these days has been bred so lean I would need to replace some of the fat that would naturally have been in the duck breast with some melted butter stirred in with the hoisin and honey. A little spice is always nice with an Asian inspired sauce so I would stir in a touch of garlic chili sauce for the right amount of kick.
If my boyfriend was disappointed by our change in dinner plans he didn’t show it. When the juicy chops emerged, browned on each side and finished off in the oven, dripping in the sweet and spicy hoisin honey chops his eyes and mouth opened wide.
Even my brother recovered from his cassoulet disappointment. He found some nice pork loins, enough to feed a Super Bowl crowd, and made a tasty stuffing of bread, chorizo, chiles, and spices. If anyone was disappointed by Paul’s backup plan you would have never known. He improvised and the crowd went wild.
Pork Loin Chops with Hoisin-Honey Glaze
Made with garlic chili sauce, pork loin chops, salt and pepper, olive oil, butter, honey, hoisin sauce
Made with garlic chili sauce, pork loin chops, salt and pepper, olive oil, butter, honey, hoisin sauce
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 thick cut center cut pork loin chops, boneless, about 2 inches thick
- salt and pepper
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons garlic chili sauce
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Season pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper.
Preheat 1 or 2 large saute pans (big enough that the chops don't touch each other when placed side by side) over a medium high heat with the olive oil (divide between two pans if necessary). Place chops in the pan and brown for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden.
While chops are browning, combine butter, honey, hoisin, and garlic chili sauce in a small saucepan. Place over a medium low heat and stir until the butter melts and ingredients are combined. Remove from heat.
After chops have browned, brush the topside of each with a thin coating of the sauce. Place in the hot oven. Cook for about 10 additional minutes at 400 degrees F, opening oven twice while cooking to brush with additional sauce.
When chops are just cooked through, remove pans from oven. Cover with foil and let rest for five minutes.
Serve one chop per person and spread remaining sauce in a small pool on each plate, for dipping.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1192-change-of-plans/