Pork Cutlets with a Mushroom Cognac Cream Sauce

      

     

Last summer, I visited Bonn, Germany on a work trip.  I very soon realized that the traditional, and for the most part only, cuisine of the area was a breaded cutlet with one of a few sauces, or an arm length link of sausage.  Each were good once, although I couldn't imagine of making a habit of such food as I was forced to do over the course of a week.  But in time, like most memories, one remembers only the good parts, and so, this past week I returned to thoughts of breaded cutlets with a mushroom cream sauce.  I don't remember whether I had a pork cutlet or a veal cutlet, that wasn't the important part.  The mushroom cream sauce was the inspiration which I fulfilled by recreating the dish in its form below.  It brought back a summer's night in a beer garden, Kolsch beer flowing, arteries clogging.  Once in a while, there's nothing like it.  Serves 2.

    

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter

2 boneless pork loin chops

salt/pepper

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup bread crumbs

1 4-oz can sliced button mushrooms

1/4 cup cognac

1 cup cream

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 tsp corn starch

1 tbsp water

    

Directions

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.  In a medium nonstick fry pan, heat 1 tbsp of butter over medium heat.  Place the flour, eggs and bread crumbs each on a plate or in a bowl.  Cut the pork chops in half lengthwise to form two cutlets approximately 1/4 inch thick each.  If the chops are thicker, cut in thirds to make three cutlets per chop.  Season each chop with salt and pepper.  When the butter in the pan is bubbling, dredge 2 of the chops in the flour, shaking off the excess, then dredge in the eggs, then dredge in the breadcrumbs, ensuring all parts of the cutlets are coated.  Saute the cutlets on one side for a few minutes until golden, then turn and saute on the other side in the same manner.  When the cutlets are cooked, remove to a plate with a paper towel in the heated oven.  If the butter in the pan is overly browned and in danger of burning, wipe out the pan with a paper towel before adding and heating the second tbsp of butter.  Cook the second set of cutlets as before.

For the sauce, add the final 2 tbsp of butter to the pan along with the mushrooms.  Cook the mushrooms until softened and gently browned, approximately 5-8 minutes.  Deglaze the pan with the cognac, scraping up the brown bits from the pan.  Simmer down the cognac in half, then add the stock and cream, bringing to a gentle simmer.  If a thicker sauce is desired, mix the corn starch and cold water together in a small bowl and then add to the sauce, bringing the sauce back to a simmer and allowing to thicken.  Season the sauce as desired and serve over the cutlets.