Porkchops with Mushroom Bourbon Cream Sauce

This was a fairly decent meal for the hubs and me...it's not my favorite way to prepare pork but I was intrigued by the sauce more than anything. I was looking forward to the creaminess and buttery-ness from the marriage of mushroom, bourbon, and the heavy cream. And with my addition of my favorite friend, Gaaaaaarrrrrr-lick. I roasted a garlic head the night before, and wanted to use it in my dish. I usually make Garlic-honey butter, but bah, I didn't have any lovely sourdough bread to go along with dinner. The sauce was a perfect blend of butter-y, garlic-ky, and mushroom heaven for me!

More about the pork chops, they were huge since I got the Costco value pack. I should have taken them down a notch since it lengthened my cooking time. These pork chops were almost 4 inches thick, (that's 4 of my fingers) only if I had cut these suckers in half - it would have been just a perfect bite. I felt like I was arm wrestling with the pork chops with each bite...HUGE bites. D'OH, big homer-ism to me. Oh well, that was my cooking bad. I guess I'm mainly disappointed that this took me longer than usual to prepare but my wonderful husband helped me out when he could. I served this alongside barley mix (which I'll never buy again from TJ's), & herb-roasted vegetables using my previous herb-roasted onion recipe.

Porkchops with Mushroom Bourbon Cream Sauce
Adapted from Simplyrecipes.com

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound sliced cremini mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 head of roasted garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry white wine (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon whiskey
Salt and pepper
1 large egg
2 Tbsp water
4 6-7 oz center-cut pork chops
All purpose flour
2 cups fresh bread crumbs
3 Tbsp grapeseed oil
2 Tbsp minced fresh basil

Preparation:
1. Sauté onions, roasted garlic, and mushrooms in 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet on medium high heat until the mushrooms are browned - about 10-15 minutes. Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and boil down until the liquid is reduced to almost a glaze, about 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bourbon, boil until reduced by two thirds. Add the cream and simmer several minutes until the sauce thickens.
2. Whisk an egg and 2 Tbsp of water in a shallow baking dish. Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with salt and pepper. Dip chops into the flour, then egg mixture, then breadcrumbs, coating completely. Heat olive or grapeseed oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork chops and cook until brown, about 4 minutes per side. Turn the chops one more time, lower the heat to low, cover, and cook an additional 5 minutes. Alternatively you can put the chops in a pre-heated oven at 400°F for 5-8 more minutes.
3. When about to serve the pork, bring the sauce to a simmer and add the chopped basil to it. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Review: It's a fairly decent meal when you get the correct sized pork chops, and more importantly pick appropriate side dishes. Just rice pilaf or mashed potatoes would have sufficed, or a dinner salad but I kinda went over the top with this cooking adventure. I'm still in love with the sauce