The Dyson blog: The Value landscape and engagement

Most Chinese-takeout sweet-and-sour sauces are bright red, gluey, and sugary.

The size of the mince matters — the smaller the better — Leonti says, because you're multiplying the surface area of the vegetables by a thousandfold.More surface area to caramelize in the pan equals more flavor..

When I made Leonti's ribollita at home in my Birmingham, Alabama, kitchen, I tried the double-cleaver technique, but quickly switched to an efficient, two-handled mezzaluna after too many stray bits of onion, carrot, and celery fell to the kitchen floor.I followed his advice and sweated the vegetables in olive oil in a Dutch oven, slowly cooking the mixture, stirring almost as often with a wooden spoon as you would with a roux.I then turned up the heat until I heard that rapid sizzle, signaling that the soffritto was beginning to caramelize, creating a massive amount of flavor.

When you build flavor from the bottom of the pot like this, the flavors continue to transform, concentrating even further when you add then reduce aromatic liquids — in Leonti's case, adding crushed tomatoes and white wine, which cook down to a tomato-wine-soffritto jam full of umami.That flavor base gets rehydrated with water, then cooks down again with the kale and bread — the latter adds tangy flavor and disintegrates into the soup to add texture.

Finally, cooked beans — both whole and pureed — go in, thickening and tightening the soup into a porridge.. Leonti served many of his courses in gold-rimmed Richard Ginori china to frame his food in the Tuscan context.

His restaurant's fare was big-city fine dining meets cucina povera, the Italian cooking tradition born of necessity that elevates humble ingredients into dishes fit for a king.Once the pork chops are done, transfer them to a carving board and pile all of those herbs, garlic, and Thai chiles on top, letting them sit for five minutes so they infuse with even more flavor.

(And don't forget to save that butter, too, for serving.)Then, carve them off the bone and slice the meat against the grain.

With a final drizzle of that infused butter, you're all set to eat.. "These pork chops are so juicy and so flavorful, they deserve a standing ovation," Justin says.. Get the Recipe: Herb-Basted Pork Chops(Keep screen awake).2 cups hot coffee.