And here I am 2 weeks after my last 2 week delay in post travesty. I’m so sorry guys! But there are reasons behind these delays.
- I completely ran out of back-logged photos. And if you are a food blogger, you will know how annoying that situation is. That means that you need to be generating content almost in real-time, which leaves no room for life to happen or mistakes.
- Mistakes. I was all set to go last week with this genius (or so I thought) recipe idea for farro and chicken stuffed acorn squash that was going to set pinterest on fire. I took one bite and tossed the wretched mess into the trash. (Which leads to the thought.. maybe I’m just not meant to make on-trend healthy recipes..?)
- I’ve been designing a baby shower from scratch! I hope to get a bunch of photos this weekend to share with you all. It’s been somewhat insane prepping everything, but I’m pretty sure it’s going to be epic. And never fear- The Gourmet Gourmand has been cooking up a load.
So now that I have bored you all with excuses, let’s get to the meat of the post (ha. ha.). This recipe for pork chops with mustard cream sauce is just the kind of fall comfort food I’ve been craving, and the flavors in this are on point.
I have a whole animal butcher in my neighborhood where I acquired these beautiful bone-in pork chops. If you can’t find bone-in chops, that’s fine. I would strongly recommend getting thick cut chops with a lot of fat to prevent dried out pork. And I also strongly recommend a meat thermometer. It really makes a difference getting the pork to perfect medium perfection.
Now the sauce is a sauce of my own invention, although French-inspired. It is basically a dijon cream sauce hit with a generous amount of brandy. The flavors are somewhat strong on their own, but mixed together and paired with juicy seared pork, it is basically sauce perfection.
So I’m not going to make any promises, but I hope to be on a little more regular of a posting schedule from here on out again. But please bear with me and fingers crossed for no more recipe disasters so I can build up my photo library again!
Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 thick-cut bone-in pork chops
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tablespoons brandy
- 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
- 2/3 cup half and half
- 1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- Salt pepper, and sugar to taste
- Chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
- Let pork chops sit out while you get the garlic and shallots minced for the sauce. Place an oven-safe meat thermometer in the center of one of your chops.
- Salt and pepper the pork generously.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Bring an oiled cast iron skillet to high heat. Sear the pork chops for about 2 minutes per side and then place into the oven. Set your thermometer to alarm at 135 degrees.
- Meanwhile make your sauce -
- In a small saucepan melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and shallot and saute until translucent.
- Next add brandy (turn off the heat briefly), mustard, cream, thyme, and bay leaf.
- Simmer to cook off the alcohol and until the sauce reduces slightly.
- Finally, stir in the lemon juice.
- Taste and season with salt, pepper, and just a little sugar as needed.
- Remove the pork from the oven when it reaches 135 degrees. Immediately remove from the cast iron skillet and allow to rest for 10 minutes on a cutting board.
- Serve with sauce spooned over the pork chop and garnished with parsley.
I love the addition of the brandy and I’d want to try it with a fillet steak as well. 🙂
Ahh thank you so much Sune!! I definitely think it would work well on steak 🙂
So glad you are back! I’ve missed you. Lovely photos!
Thank you Karen! It’s good to be back 🙂 Hopefully more regularly again..
What a glorious recipe! And you cooked the pork perfectly! That makes me happy.
Thanks so much mimi! 🙂 🙂 So flattered!
I think you should fly to Michigan and make me this. Love, Dad
Hehe thanks Dad from mom’s account 😉
Great dish! Love pork and creamy sauces 🙂 The brandy addition is perfect!
Thanks so much Jennifer! I definitely thought this one reminded me of something you’d make over on your blog. I even busted out the cast iron 😉
It’s been awhile since I left a comment but yes yes and yes! Totally feel you when life takes over and when you do find the time and completely make a mistake in creating a something that seems so damn great in your head. Happens to me a bit too often?! Anyway these pork chips look really delicious, I want to give that mustard cream a try, definitely. And designing a baby shower from scratch?! Wow, hope you do share some photos and insight of that 🙂 good luck with it and I will be lurking around for all your recipes to come!
You are too sweet. Thank you so much! I plan to photograph the baby shower so hopefully I’ll get around to sharing some of the photos to come!
Gorgeous fall comfort dish. Loving that cream sauce idea, must try that next time we are making pork chops or even a pork tenderloin. Don’t you dislike when life gets in the way of blogging? ! LOL I am sure you will have more photos soon. Been there…plenty of times. Cut yourself a little slack. Pinning!
Haha I knowwwww it’s just way too annoying when life takes over 😉 thanks for your support and encouragement! It means a lot.
Now youre talking! This certainly is the perfect dish for me.
So happy you’re back Sarah! I totally get it though! The work of a blogger is never done, and I hate to get behind too. Loving these chops. My husband Tom and I both love mustard sauces, so I know we’ll love these!
Girl…I so know how life can (more often than not in my case) de-rail good intentions with the blog. I also am all too familiar with spending all day in the kitchen, only to trash the end result. But that is all part of recipe development. So anyhow, welcome back. . .
As for these pork chops. Woah. . . I mean really. These look absolutely heavenly. And that sauce. . .I’m so loving it. . .so much so that I’m contemplating pile it onto just about every meat dish that makes it onto my table.
This looks wonderful and so perfect for fall! Gorgeous plates – I’d want to finish my chops just to see the design underneath! 🙂
Mollie
So thanks for making me drool on my keyboard. These are most definitely the most drool-worthy pork chops I’ve ever laid eyes on. YUM!