Mimi's Cafe New Honey Lavender Pork Chop Has Arrived!

Most recently Mimi’s Cafe, the neighborhood French-inspired American comfort food cafe, ran a contest for guests to develop a new entree for their menu and the winner won a trip to France! The winner is an original recipe for Honey Lavender Pork Chop submitted by Michael Watz of Evanston, Illinois! Watz and his wife enjoyed a trip to France, where the Mimi’s parent company, Groupe Le Duff, is based. I went in to my local Mimi's this week for a preview, and it was delicious! (I got my salad without the goat cheese).

To perfect the winning entrée for guests, Mimi’s took the center-cut pork chop lightly glazed with honey, herbs de Provence and lavender and paired it with a mixed green salad with green apples, cranberries, goat cheese, toasted walnuts and roasted potato croutons tossed with balsamic dressing. The pork chop may already be available at your location, but will be available nationwide September 19th! 

One of the guest judge was Ellise Pierce, author of “COWGIRL CHEF: Texas Cooking with a French Accent” and CowgirlChef.com. There were more than 175 recipes!

“This one-of- a-kind dish brings the lavender of the French countryside to America’s beloved grilled thick-cut pork chop,” said Pierce, cookbook author and chef. “We went looking for an original French-inspired, American comfort food recipe to feature at Mimi’s cafes and we found dozens. In the end, the light honey and herb glaze with the smoky grilled pork won us over.”

In addition to being featured at Mimi’s, the recipe and resulting Honey Lavender Pork Chop entrée is being taken on the road for a media tour this fall by Pierce. She has been featured on numerous television and radio shows and has written for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, The Dallas Morning News and Edible Dallas, among others. When she’s stateside, she teaches cooking classes throughout Texas and is now working on her second cookbook. For more information about Mimi's Cafe, please visit their website at www.mimiscafe.com.