Ooh La La

To lower our sometimes embarrassingly high grocery bill, Shane and I have cut back on our meat consumption, replacing fish, fowl, pork, and beef with lentils, lentils, beans, and broccoli. Can you imagine the contests we have after dinner? I’m almost too ashamed to admit I frequently win. However, this past weekend, we celebrated Shane’s 37th birthday by taking a break from our homely, mostly vegetarian meals

Since I have a knack for searing pork chops, I decided upon creating a French-inspired pork chop à la Emilie. Ooh la la. Pork chops swimming in a crème and port wine sauce with zee rich sauce spilling onto zee potatoes mashed with parsnips, carrots, and thyme and finished with butter and a bit of crème of their own, with zee sides of the zee serving platter garnished with crisply roasted fresh green beans. Ooh la la.

Unfortunately I’m not French (did I fool anyone?), and unfortunately my fake accent cannot coyly excuse the rubbery texture of the green beans and blandness of the potatoes. By leaving the beans in a warm oven while I finished the remainder of the meal, I steamed away their crispness. Lesson learned: green beans need to be roasted at the last minute for peak flavor and texture. And although the mashed potatoes were boosted with the nuttiness of parsnips and sweetness of carrots (not to mention a load of butter and cream), they were ho-hum, at best.

However, the pork chops in their port wine and cream sauce, oh my savior, my meal savior! The only sounds in the room were classical music in the background and Shane’s gorging. Who can waste words when there are pork chops to eat? Juicy, tender, faintly pink on the inside pork chops surrounded by cream and a touch of sweetness from the port. This was simplicity that put to shame the fussy preparation of the potatoes.

Adapted from Gourmet April 2007
2 - 4 servings (Depending on how much meat you want to consume)

For the Pork Chops:
2 8oz boneless pork chops, each chop roughly 1 inch thick
Generous grinding of coarsely cracked pepper
salt
olive oil (optional)

For the sauce:
1/4 cup port, tawny or ruby
1/3 cup cream
salt to taste

Crack pepper onto a large plate or platter and sprinkle over with salt. Press both pork chops into the salt and pepper on the plate and generously sprinkle more salt and pepper over the tops of the chops and press into the chops. Heat a large, heavy skillet (I used cast iron) on a fairly high heat. If necessary, brush the skillet with olive oil before. If it's a well seasoned pan, this may not be necessary. Sear the pork chops one minute on each side. Lower heat, cover skillet, and cook pork chops 4 minutes each side. Remove pork chops from the pan onto a plate, cover with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes. The Pork chops will continue cooking until they are pink in the middle.

Add port to the skillet, increase heat, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 1 minute scraping the bottom of the skillet to release the bits of meat clinging to the bottom. Add cream and any meat juices that accumulate on the plate to the skillet, bring to a simmer, and simmer for 2-3 minutes or until thickened. Salt to taste. Add pork chops and turn off heat. This should gently re-heat the pork chops and only take a minute or so. Serve pork chops topped with sauce.

Proving there’s more to me than seared pork chops and cordials, I ended our meal with an old favorite, Chocolate Stout Cake. I love a good beer! I love a glass of pale ale paired with sharp cheddar cheese, I love a bottle of Mexican lager paired with chicken soft tacos, and I especially love a pint of syrupy, bitter stout paired with dark chocolate to create three thick layers of dark chocolate cake. Each layer sandwiched rich raspberry ganache, and for flair, I nestled fresh strawberries to hide the slight indention in the top layer.

My cakes are often a masquerade with a strawberry here and a bit more icing there. Masks and indentions aside, I love the moist denseness of this cake. There is no harsh or cloying sweetness . The tartness of the raspberries in the ganache complement the slight bitterness of the dark chocolate while toning the richness of the cream. Just a slim slice satisfied this normal chocoholic.

Emilie’s note: don’t bother with fancy cocoa powders. Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder makes (and takes) the cake in this recipe. I also highly recommend using an extra stout beer such as Guinness Extra Stout. Go the extra mile, you’ll need the exercise.