Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce

We had a power outage two days ago from a wind storm that resulted in 40-50 mph winds so we lost power for 4 hours.  The power went out at 4:00pm, right when I was starting to fix dinner.  Bruce is still living in the basement because he's quarantining after attending his father's funeral in Iowa and is totally dependent on me providing his food, except for breakfast...thank goodness for that!  So, when the power went out, he immediately yelled upstairs "Whats for dinner?!"  This is the second time he's been in quarantine and to be perfectly honest, I'm getting really tired of trying to keep him fed.  He eats so much more than me.  He'd already eaten the leftovers from dinner for his lunch earlier in the day, plus I couldn't warm anything up with the power out.  I yelled back down to him "You'll have to fix yourself a peanut butter sandwich!"  I made myself a green salad with tuna fish.  I always keep cans of tuna in the pantry cupboards but Bruce doesn't like tuna that much.  I did give him a green salad, too, and asked if he wanted cheese grated on top for a little protein but he'd been eating cheese and crackers after the power went out so wasn't hungry for more cheese.  That ended up being all he ate for dinner that night.  Yesterday, I went grocery shopping and bought him cookies, a cinnamon roll for breakfast, lots of fruit and snacks to stock him up!  And then I made a REALLY good dinner.  We both loved this recipe from Epicurious and were both very hungry for something good after basically skipping dinner the night before.  I always feel like pork in the fall.  It tastes so good with applesauce or anything with apples.  I love cooking a big pork roast in the fall with garlic cloves stuck all over into it and roast it in the oven.  It smells up the whole house and it's heavenly.  But for quicker equally amazing meal, these pork chops fit the bill nicely.  

Make 4 servings

4 (3/4-inch thick) pork chops
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped shallots (1 or 2)
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup country-style Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1.   Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325 degree F. 

2.  Heat a dry 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot.  Pat pork chops dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  

3.  Add oil to hot skillet, swirling to coat, then brown chops, turning over once, about 8 minutes total. 

4.  Transfer to a shallow baking pan, reserving the skillet.  

5.  Bake, uncovered, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.  Let stand, loosely covered with foil for  5 minutes.

6.  Meanwhile, add butter to pan drippings in skillet and stir until melted.

7.  Add shallots and cook until softened for about 3-5 minutes.

8.  Add broth and boil, scraping up any brown bits for 2 minutes.

9.  Add mustard and cream and return to a boil, then add lemon juice and simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.  

                                         

10.  Add pork chops back to pan and spoon sauce over chops to completely coat.

Serve with potatoes or rice, drizzling sauce over your starch and pork chops.  We also served it with roasted bell peppers - a very fall vegetable right now.  Enjoy!