.pan-seared pork chops w/ cream sauce and fried sage leaves.

I know what you're thinking. The title is very wordy. But hey! You can't leave anything out, right?

The newest season of Hell's Kitchen is on again and it always seems to inspire me to cook something uber impressive. Maybe one day I will actually cook something like this for Mr. Gordon Ramsay himself! And maybe... just maybe he won't spit it into the trash on the first bite. I can wish!!!

Do you find yourself making the same kind of pork chop recipe over and over? Do you take the easy way out and use Shake n' Bake? If you want to try something new, that's delicious and impressive (and not too difficult!), I really suggest you try this recipe.

****NOTE: If you haven't noticed, I haven't taken many step by step photos because it's very time consuming. If the recipe is more complicated where you need visuals, I will take more pictures.****

Here are the directions to make this dish-----

Heat a skillet over medium to medium high heat.

Season your pork chops with a little sea salt and fresh black pepper. I bought about 1 1/2" thick chops because the thin ones cook too fast, have less flavor, and are easy to overcook... and when you overcook them, they get really dry. Not what we want. So make sure you get those thick babies!

Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil in the skillet and carefully place each chop in. Sear for 3 minutes on each side. Searing is really important because not only does it give the meat more flavor and color, but it seals in all of the juices. If you don't hear a sizzle when you put the chops in, your pan wasn't hot enough.

When the chops have been seared on all sides, transfer to a baking sheet or baking dish and pop into a 350* oven for 15 minutes. When you remove the chops from the oven, they should be perfectly cooked inside with a slightly pink center. If it's too pink, put back in the oven for 5 minutes more.

Don't freak out. The FDA has come a long way in how they handle and process pork so you don't have to cook it to well done anymore. You will find that the chop is so juicy and moist when you do this. Trust me... it's all good.

Let the chops rest for 5 minutes before plating.

Now for the cream sauce ---

When the pork chops are resting, we're going to make the sauce. Heat the same skillet back up on the burner. Make sure you don't clean the pan because we want all of those little stuck on bits to be in our sauce.

When it's hot, add a pat of butter and melt. Saute a clove of garlic, about 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes (halved), and a small handful of chopped maitaki mushroom. (I used maitaki because that's what I bought at the Farmer's Market this past weekend -- delicious mushroom!!). If you don't have maitaki, use cremini or shitaki. Saute for a 2-3 minutes.

Add 1 cup white wine and whisk, scraping the bottom of the skillet to bring up all of the stuck on pieces. Let the wine reduce in half. Add 1 cup heavy cream. You can use half and half if you wish to cut the fat. Let simmer for a couple of minutes. If the sauce is a little thick, add some chicken tock to thin down a little. Taste and season with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Add a pat of butter and whisk in. Make sure you whisk as it melts so it doesn't separate with the cream.

I served this with risotto (I threw some maitaki mushrooms into the risotto, otherwise, it's the same recipe linked). Put a spoonful of risotto in the center of the plate. Place a pork chop on top of the rice, then spoon some cream sauce over the top of that! Garnish with fried sage leaves.

**To make the sage leaves, heat a little oil in a pan. Drop in fresh sage leaves (about 4-5 per person) and fry until they stop bubbling. Pull from the oil and drain on paper towel.

Printable version:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ-Z_fQXybIkZGcydmZqcW1fMTY2dnFrcmM3ZjQ&hl=en