Côtes de Porc with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce
Style served in 20 minutes.
By Erin Henderson
When I travelled to Champagne earlier this year, we visited one of the more famous food markets in Reim, the Halles Boulingrin, an absolute playground for any foodie.
Housed in a gigantic 1920’s art deco building, for the last 15 years or so, local purveyors – farmers, butchers, cheese makers, foragers, bakers, fishers – set up shop three times a week. The place is rammed with locals, especially on Saturdays, as everyone needs to get their Sunday dinner ingredients in order. Nothing is open in Champagne on a Sunday.
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We stood in line about 15-people deep waiting for our chance to place our meat order. Very few people in Champagne speak English, which was fine by me, I love to practice my (embarrassingly weak) French when I can. I used the wait time to cobble together my sentences from what I remembered from high school French classes and Google translate, and a really lovely Englishman, who had been living in Champagne for the last decade or so, overheard my sporadic, stammering French and helped me with the nuances of local dialects and sayings.
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I asked my new British friend why this butcher had such a crowd. I’m usually one to avoid lines like the plague, but in a new city, I consider locals queuing up as a far better endorsement than Trip Advisor. And, unsurprisingly, I learned this butcher was known as one of the better ones at the market selling premium meats for very fair prices.
(Indeed, our order of one kilo each of côtes de boeuf and côtes de porc plus about 500 grams of the local pork sausage – enough for three of us to eat well for three meals – came to only €60. A scant $90 Canadian at the time.)
Our visit coincided with early fall, a time when the mushroom season is in gorgeous, earthy glory, so we also picked up some chantarelles, porcini, and black trumpet mushrooms. A half-litre of crème fraîche (a stupendously excellent price of €4) and we had a lovely feast that was both satisfying and elegant.
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Côtes de Porc
When we were in Champagne, we stayed in a lovely country house with just about all the comforts of home. Of course, we didn’t have everything we were used to, so a little culinary courage was required. I think all the better for it. With very few ingredients and simple preparation, I think this was one of the best meals of the entire trip.
Makes: about 2 cups mushroom sauce (I estimate ½ cup sauce for every pork chop)
Chef level: easy
Special equipment: digital thermometer
Ingredients:
- 1 bone-in pork chop per person
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 3 Tbsp butter, divided
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup shallot, minced
- ½ cup brandy (dry white wine will do in a pinch)
- A few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 cups fresh mushrooms, chopped (We used porcini, chantarelles and black trumpet, but whatever you’ve got will be fine)
- ¼ cup crème fraîche
- ½ cup cream
How to Make It:
- Remove the pork from the fridge about an hour before cooking and season well on both sides with salt.
- Warm a high-sided pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter.
- When frothy, add the pork, searing on one side until golden, about 5-7 minutes. Carefully flip and sear the other side until golden and an internal temperature of 150-155°F is reached.
- Remove the pork and place it covered with foil on a plate (The pork will raise to 160°F while resting.)
- Turn down the heat to med-low, and in the same pan, add more butter if the bottom is dry. Add the shallot and quickly cook allow it to soften but not brown.
- Add in the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are soft.
- Pour in the brandy, scraping anything at the bottom of the pan.
- Add the thyme, and adjust the heat so the brandy is just gently bubbling.
- Taste a mushroom and add a little salt and pepper if needed.
- Melt the crème fraîche into the pan and then pour in the cream.
- Stir until thickened. Remove the thyme sprigs, taste for salt and pepper, adding more if necessary.
- Serve the pork chops with the mushroom sauce.
Wine Pairing
In Champagne, the main red wine is Pinot Noir which makes a lovely pairing for this dish. Pinot Noir, with its smooth tannins, bright acidity, and cherry flavours compliment to pork and the earthy mushrooms beautifully, giving a fresh zing to the rich meal.
