Sunday Dinner: Sauteed Pork with Mushroom Mustard Cream Sauce

I spend almost every Sunday at my parent's house. It has been a tradition every since I was little that Sunday nights were a time to relax until the work week started again, and to cook a big nice dinner. This dinner usually consists of a great steak on the grill or my mom's homemade spaghetti sauce. Occasionally though we will mix it up. A couple Sunday's ago, my mom and I cooked this one together. We found the recipe from my mom's BIG binder of recipes. This is a great website for recipes, and I will probably visit here often.

Ingredients:

2 Tb vegetable oil

4 Tb unsalted butter

Four 4 to 5 ounce pork cutlets, lightly pounded to an even thickness

Salt to taste

Ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup minced shallots

3 cups thinly sliced fresh white mushrooms

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup chicken stock

2/3 cup heavy cream

1 Tb Dijon mustard

2 Tb thinly sliced green onion tops

Directions:

1. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat until hot. Add the oil and heat until almost smoking. Add the butter and when it becomes foamy, add the cutlets.

2. Saute the cutlets just until they are lightly browned on the bottom. Turn and cook on the other side until lightly browned. They will not be completely cooked through. Season with salt and pepper and transfer the cutlets to a platter.

3. Add the shallots to the same pan and saute over medium heat until soft, but not brown, 3-5 minutes.

4. Turn the heat to high and add the mushrooms. Saute stirring frequently, until the mushrooms release all their liquid. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the mushrooms to a bowl and set aside.

5. Add the white wine and reduce by half.

6. Add the chicken stock and reduce by half.

7. Add the cream and reduce until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

8. Reduce the heat to low and add the mustard. Whisk until smooth.

9. Return the cutlets and mushrooms to the pan (do not boil) and cook just until the pork is heated through.

G's side notes:

This really was a fantastic recipe. There was a lot of transferring things and reducing of liquids, but the end result was worth it. I am a huge sauce lover, so I next time, I would almost double the sauce ingredients. Also, we served this with mashed potatoes and the gravy went excellent with them!

Prairie Fume Chicken Wild Rice Soup

One of my favorite white wines is Prairie Fume and is produced and bottled at the Wollershiem Winery in Prairie Du Sac, Wisconsin. The original recipe for this Chicken with Wild Rice Soup called for white wine, but I added a little extra to really taste the flavor of the Prairie Fume. You could really use any white wine, but make sure you love it because you can really taste it in this soup!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice

7 cups chicken broth

3 cups roasted chicken, cut into pieces

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped onion

2 Tb. vegetable oil

1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

3 cups milk

1 cup white wine (Prairie Fume)

Directions:

1. Cook the wild rice according to package. Set aside.

2. In a large pot, saute the celery and onion in the oil for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook for another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until everything is tender.

3. Add chicken broth, diced chicken, and cooked wild rice into pot. Simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth. Whisk in milk slowly and continue to cook and whisk mixture until bubbly and thick. Then add all of milk mixture to the broth pot mixture. Stir until fully milk mixture is completely incorporated into broth.

5. In a blender, measure out two cups of the soup mixture. Blend mixture until mostly smooth. Add back to the rest of the soup in the pot. Stir in heavy cream and white wine. Allow all flavors to incorporate uncovered for 20-30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

G's side notes:

I love to partially blend soups that are supposed to be thick. I feel it just helps the thicken process, and blends the flavors. The soup also freezes very well, so you can make a lot, and save it for a rainy (or snowy) day!