French Country Cooking – Meals and Moments From a Village in the Vineyards –
Mimi Thorisson
Everyone that knows me, knows my comfort zone is Italian cooking. Duh… Stands to reason being Italian, right? But lately I’ve been wanting to branch out into other ethnicities just to get a feel for different styles, tastes, and flavors. One of those things I’ve been meaning to try is French cooking. NOT the Julia Child, super complicated, intricate, 5-star, Michelin-rated restaurant quality French cooking. But the country-style, simple, home-style French cooking. The kind of meals that a family would eat on an average night. The end result? Pretty good. And it’s never a bad thing to discover a new way of making the usual dishes.
Ingredients:
4 Bone-in Pork Chops – 1 inch thick
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and smashed
8 sage leaves
2/3 cup dry hard apple cider
3 tablespoons crème fraîche
Preheat the oven to 325º F.
Score the pork chops on both sides and season all over with salt and pepper.
In a large sautè pan, heat the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and cook for 3 minutes. Add the pork chops and garlic cloves, reduce the heat to medium, and cook just until the juices run cleat, about 7 minutes per side.
Transfer the pork chops to an ovenproof dish, put the sage leaves on top, and spoon the pan drippings all over. Put in the oven to keep warm.
Increase the heat under the pan to high and pour in the cider. Boil for 2 minutes to reduce. Add the crème fraîche, stir until thickened, and remove from the heat.
Pour the sauce on top of the chops and serve.
Dinner With Diana 