Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen

It has been a long summer. I haven’t been blogging and I apologize for not letting all of you know that all is well with me. We have been staying at home as many others have also. I just needed a break from social media for a while. But I am back and following all of you again. Thanks Lynne for checking up on me.

I have been cooking, but nothing inspiring or new until I made this pork chop dish. It comes from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. My Daughter-In-Law gave me a container of dried gourmet mixed mushrooms for Christmas and they led me to search out recipes including dried mushrooms.

This is not a quick recipe. Several steps are required. But I have the time. My days have fallen into a new rhythm. Mornings are spent on necessary chores or trips to the grocery store. Early afternoons are spent reading or binge watching Netflix shows. I have seen every episode of The Great British Baking Show and I’m working my way through each season of NCIS. But at 4:00 P.M. I am usually in the kitchen. I like the concept of “slow cooking”. Working my way through a recipe that requires slow deliberate steps is calming.

The braised pork chops are flavored with white wine, tomatoes, heavy cream, the dried mushrooms and fresh button mushrooms. It is a dish worth the time.

Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes, Cream, and Porcini Mushrooms

• 1 ounce (1/2 cup) dried porcini or other dried mushrooms soaked in 2 cups of warm water for at least 30 minutes.
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 pounds pork chops, preferably from the center loin, cut 3/4 inch thick
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and cut up
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• The filtered water from the mushroom soak
• 1/2 pound fresh white button mushrooms

1. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the chops without overlapping. Put in 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil, turn on the heat to medium high, and when the oil is hot, slip in the chops. Brown the meat deeply on one side, the do the other.
2. Add the white wine, letting it simmer briskly for 15 to 20 seconds, while using a wooden spoon to scrape loose any browning residues in the pan. Add the tomatoes, cream, salt and pepper the cup-up reconstituted drained porcini mushrooms. (Save the soaking water). Turn the heat down to cook at a very gentle simmer, and cover the pan, setting the lid on slightly ajar.
3. Cook for 45 minutes, or more, depending on the exact thickness and quality of the chops, until the meat feels tender when prodded with a fork. Turn the chops from time to time.
4. While the chops are cooking, put the filtered water from the porcini mushroom soak into a small saucepan, and boil it down to about 1/3 cup.
5. Wash the fresh white mushrooms rapidly under cold running water and wipe them thoroughly dry with a soft cloth towel. Cut them into very thin lengthwise slices without detaching the caps from the stems.
6. Choose a sauté pan that can contain the fresh mushrooms without crowding them. Put in the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is hot, put in the mushrooms. Stir them frequently, adding salt and pepper. When the liquid they will shed has boiled away, add the reduced filtered water from the porcini soak, and continue to stir frequently until there is no more liquid in the pan. Take off heat.
7. When the pork chops are tender, add the cooked mushrooms to their pan. Turn the chops and mushrooms, cover the pan again, and continue cooking for 5 to 8 minutes always over moderate heat. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter and serve at once.

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