We had a bit of wind and rain, a few days ago, and her name was Super Typhoon Usagi. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those that have lost family and friends and their homes.

Compared to other wind and rains that have passed through Hong Kong, I felt this typhoon was pretty mild except for lots of fallen trees and a few broken windows. My teenagers were praying for a four-day holiday as the Hong Kong Observatory started to raise her flag warnings. For school age children and workers, a T8 typhoon warning is like a snow day in Michigan. Public transport stops, schools close and many office buildings close. However, it seems like most of karaoke bars remain open so that is the business men and women can practice for their big solo debut...

So you might be asking, what did BAM do while Super Typhoon Usagi was tormenting Asia? I cooked, of course. While the rest of Hong Kong was enjoying their ramen noodles from a cardboard bowl with their disposable chopsticks, our family enjoyed a decadent meal of tender rosemary and herbed pork chops with a roasted shallot wine sauce, roasted herbed carrots, baked potatoes and a delightful spring salad. I usually do not boast about my dinners but I have to tell you this was one really a happy accident that needs to happen again.

I had spent the last couple of days, prior to the hit of Super Typhoon Usagi, doing a bit of emergency preparedness. I was born and raised in Michigan where the winters are very cold and long and if a big storm passes through you might not have electricity and water for days and access to supplies is limited.  I always had gas reserved for the generator, extra water and canned goods stored for an emergency. I even stored extra blankets and food and water in my car.

In Japan, I added to my emergency list by creating an emergency back pack for each member of our family as you never know when that big earthquake may hit and you have to evacuate quickly.

In Hong Kong, I have also made emergency back packs, extra water and "did have" extra non-perishable foods on the shelves. I started looking through our reserves and realised that my hungry teenagers have been eating through the emergency supplies so I had to restock and rearm.

I am glad I did this several days in advance. I have been told that the shelves were empty of everything in Hong Kong by the day before the typhoon hit because of the panicked public. (We live in the world's most densely populated city in the world. I just have to get there before the 8 million others decide to.) I am not an expert regarding emergency preparedness, by any means, but there is a sweet little blogger, Tonnette that has done a whole series on emergency preparedness. Please stop by and give her a visit at http://tonettejoycefoodfriendsfamily.wordpress.com/?s=emergency+ as she has some great tips on the essentials. Don't wait until you have an emergency to start planning, then it is too late.

Now let's get back to this amazing dinner that you must try.  It is not a prerequisite to make during a typhoon but you can make it any time you want to make a delicious dinner in less than 30 minutes. I did not have a plan when I started this meal. I know... your shocked...! (smiling) However, did pick up these gorgeous bone in tender thick cut pork chops from Australia and I wanted to do something special with them. I foraged in my crisper of my refrigerator and was delighted to see that I had some fresh rosemary, a bag of these mini onions and a new spice mix called Kick'N Chicken Weber's seasoning which is essentially a mix of dried onion, sea salt, garlic, crushed red peppers, orange peel and paprika.

My bone in pork chops were thick cut maybe about 1.25 inches, maybe a little less. I rubbed my pork chops with olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary and spices, seared them in a hot pan just until golden colour and then popped them in the oven with my mini onions I did not even take the peel off as I was of course in the middle of Super Typhoon Usagi) and baked for about 30 minutes and then made a simple roasted shallot wine sauce with the bits from the bottom of the roasting pan. You have to love how quick and easy this meal comes together.