It never fails, around 5:00 p.m every day, if you’re watching t.v, you get a ton of commercials; all asking you the same question “what’s for dinner tonight?” and then they proceed to tell you what you should be buying for dinner tonight. As I was pondering the same old question, none of the commercials gave me inspiration. I knew what I had in the refrigerator but what to do with it? My baby boy is picky about pork; he doesn’t prefer a simple sautéed pork chop. He likes to have something more complex, something saucy. So when in doubt, I fall back on my father’s tried and true mushroom flavored cream sauce, easiest thing to make.
I make it a point to keep dried mushrooms on hand, specifically the dried porcini mushroom, they are mildly flavorful and their texture holds nicely in a sauce. All you need to do is soak them in boiling water for about twenty minutes, the mushrooms will regain their meatiness and you will get flavor from the reconstituting liquid. I sautéed the pork chops until they became a caramelized brown on both sides, by the time that happens they are more or less done, I put them aside and I sauté minced shallots until soft in the same pan that has the drippings of the pork. As the shallots are getting translucent, I add the mushroom liquid and some chicken stock and I let it simmer so that it reduces a little. Once it has simmered for a bit and reduced, I add about a quarter of a cup of heavy cream.My secret ingredient is a splash of white vinegar to offset the cream and give the sauce some oomph. Afterwards, I add the porcini mushrooms and the pork chops with whatever juices to the pan, simmer it for a few minutes and voila it is done. I had string beans left over from last night so there you go, dinner is served.
One thing about the picture showing the chicken stock, there is the small container of veal demi-glace. I chose not to add it at the last minute because I felt that it wasn’t necessary since I had the mushroom infused water and I wanted the mushroom to shine and not be over powered by the veal demi-glace. That is the great thing about cooking, it isn’t constrained at all, you can do whatever you want. It’s up to you.
laurieanichols 