Grilled Pork Chops with Wild Mushroom Sauce

This week for Gutsy Cooks Club we choose Top Chef's Marcel Vigneron's recipe for Grilled Pork Chops with Wild Mushroom Sauce from Season 2. If you are a Top Chef fan you must remember Marcel and his arrogant smirk and demeanor. 

He may be both arrogant and smirky but let me tell you this recipe rocked! 

We started with some bone in pork chops I picked up at  one of only two local butcher shops we have close by.

We made several adjustments to the original recipe. First, instead of the bacon and cabbage he has to be served as the side we switched to pancetta and kale. Cooked the exact same way. Second, we used baby portobello mushrooms (crimini) as I just am not a huge fan of portobellos for some reason. Third, we omitted the whipping cream and subbed a flavored creamy garlic and chive cheese for the called for cream cheese. Mostly because my goal was to pick up everything we needed for the meal at the butcher's and they didn't have cream cheese but they did have a flavored cheese, sort of like Boursin just a different brand. We just didn't feel the potatoes needed the whipping cream as well. 

At first we were concerned this was going to be a lot to take on after both of our 1st real day back to work and for our self made anniversary dinner. But really it was pretty quick. It did helped we made it together with a glass of Oregon sparkling wine in hand.

We layered our dish with the components of the recipe on the plate.

First,

 Then, 

Next, 

Finally,

We could tell immediately this was going to be pretty darn tasty given all of the components and how well they match together. 

We have to say the mushroom sauce was just weird. It was a strange texture and color, almost looked like a pate'. But the overall taste was good. We did additionally add a little heavy cream to mushrooms instead of just water to make them at least a little creamy. But it was not really a sauce.

We served the meal with a FANTASTIC 2007 Washington, Horse Heaven Hills Syrah from Robert Ramsey. It was a perfect syrah and truly perfectly paired with the meal.

Now that we enjoyed this recipe so much I guess I have to become a bit less of a Marcel hater I suppose.

Recipe:

Grilled Pork Chops with Wild Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients

PORK CHOPS
4 medium pork chops
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

MASHED POTATOES:
6 pounds Yukon gold potatoes
1 1/2 pints heavy whipping cream
2 sticks butter
2 ounces creme fraiche
4 ounces cream cheese
Grated nutmeg, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste

MUSHROOM SAUCE:
6 portobello mushrooms
3 heads of garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

CABBAGE AND BACON:
4 cups cabbage, cut as thinly as possibly
4-6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

PORK CHOPS:

Lightly brush each pork chop with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill pork chops to desired doneness.

MASHED POTATOES:

Peel and dice potatoes. Place in large pot and cover with cold water to the depth of one inch. Cook over low heat until potatoes are tender, being careful not to let the water boil. Remove from heat and drain. Let potatoes cool slightly. Process potatoes in a food mill, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Combine cream and butter in a small pan and cook over medium low until cream is warm and butter has melted.

Mix cream mixture, crème fraîche, and cream cheese into potatoes. Season to taste with nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

MUSHROOM SAUCE:

Heat oven to 425 degrees.

Wrap garlic in foil and roast in oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until very soft.

Remove stems and gills from portobello mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Place portobellos on rimmed baking sheet and cover with foil. Roast in oven for 10 to 20 minutes, until tender. Squeeze garlic from skin. Combine with mushrooms in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Process, adding 1 tablespoon water at a time, until mixture is smooth.

CABBAGE AND BACON:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cabbage and blanch until tender. Drain and transfer immediately to a bowl of ice water. Let sit until cool. Remove and drain well.

Cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan to a paper towel-lined plate.

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add cabbage and bacon and stir to combine. Cook until cabbage begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm until ready to serve.

© 2013 Marcel Vigneron