MASTERING THE BASICS.- Pork Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Gherkins

MASTERING THE BASICS: In other words creating your knowledge base to cook simple yet very flavorful dishes for yourself or family and even for entertaining. While they may be simple, the taste is very much Gourmet, nothing strange or fancy equipment needed and every ingredient can be found at your local market. So let's give it a try, ok?

This is what is called a dish with an "Instant Sauce" which means it's made on-the-spot and together with this technique of using "concentration" or "reduction" will show you what you need. It's basically a PAN FRIED protein which is done first then you finish up with a lovely PAN SAUCE. This is a technique that everyone should have in their repertoire because it elevates a simple piece of protein into something amazing plus it can be adapted for 1,2,3,4 people with no effort.

Today we will make: "Entrecote with a Creamy Mustard and Gherkins Sauce" which I made the other day and some friends were impressed yet they don't think its a dish they could make. You'll see how easy and great results you get, a lovely meal too!

First things first: What is Entrecote?

Entrecote is the French word for a steak that comes from the rib area. It can be a rib chop, a rib eye, a Scotch Fillet, a club, a Delmonico and even a sirloin if cut as a contre-fillet too.

I used some small Pork Ribs that I had on hand, but either beef or pork are fine. You will need these ingredients to make this dish: This is for 2 people and will serve for 1 steak too

2 Chops / steaks / Entrecotes
1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon of neutral oil
Salt and pepper or meat on both sides, be generous

For the Sauce you will need:

2 Tablespoons of Shallots, very finely chopped (you can use onion)
1/2 Cup of White Wine, your choice
1 Cup of Veal Stock (you can use Beef or Chicken), warmed up and ready
1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
3 Gherkins (small pickles) cut in very thin strips
1 -2 Tablespoons of butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

MAKING THE DISH: Before cooking you should have your "mise-en-place" or everything in place so you are ready to cook with no delay, this is ALWAYS the first step in cooking, so have it all salted, measured and cut and chopped and ready to be put in the pan, ok?

1- First, over MEDIUM heat place our pan (a size that will fit your protein without crowding and that has sides that are at least 2 inches deep. When our pan is warming up add the neutral oil and then the butter and allow to melt. Its very traditional to always add some butter to oil when cooking in France and I always use it.
2.- Once your pan is hot and the butter melted, add your steak or chop or whatever you're using. Do not use a fork or prick the meat at any time. Leave the meat along because we want to sear it and create a crust on the meat so we can keep the juices from escaping and we will use the brown crust that will be made on the pan later. But for now and depending on how thick your protein is, allow it to cook for about 5 minutes per side if your meat is about 1 inch or so thick, if it's thicker then a couple of minutes more. You want it to be nicely golden brown. So check your meat after 5 minutes and if it looks golden brown you can turn it so the other side gets this color too, Just leave them alone and don't move them. To check and see if they're well cooked you can touch them and see if they feel firm, that will tell you they are ready. If they're soft or tender then leave for another minute and check again.
3.- Once they are done, place them on an oven proof pan, in the oven to keep warm while you make the sauce. The oven should just be warm at 65C or 120F.
4.- Now look at the pan and see it has too much grease left, pour the excess grease out but make sure you leave about 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan. The golden bits on the bottom of the pan is called the "fond" and is what will give more flavor to the sauce, you need it so leave in the pan.
5.- Now is time to make the sauce: On medium heat and in the same pan, remember? You put the shallots or onions if you're using, keep and eye on them as you mix them around the pan. You don' want to burn them but only to sweat them and give them a little golden color. After a couple of minutes you add 1 tablespoon of butter to the pan and mix the onion well with the fond in the pan, the pan will begin to look a little dry after a couple of minutes after adding the butter so it's time to add the wine; you raise the temperature to medium-high in the pan (remember we're doing a reduction type sauce) keep mixing and once the wine evaporates a little, it will look like a glaze in the pan, so you add about 1/2 cup of stock, keep mixing while the liquid bubbles, you need to wait a couple of more minutes until the sauce looks like it's beginning to thicken because it's reducing, ok? Don't worry if it doesn't look like a lot of sauce, don't forget we're only making 2 chops and it will be enough for this, this is the good part of the "instant sauces" they will easily adapt to the servings you need so cooking for 1 or 2 people is very easy.
Now you can see you are building a sauce and that it's getting a little thicker and reducing. Turn off the heat and add the Dion, 1 tablespoon, and you don't want the mustard to burn so you turn off the heat. Keep mixing or whisking to incorporate the Dijon well into the sauce and you'll see it will give the sauce a lovely sheen. At this point you want to filter the sauce to remove the little its there (you will need a sieve or colander) now you can use another pan after filtering the sauce or use a small bowl and then put it back into the original pan. Now your sauce is like satin and is smooth and velvety.
Turn the heat back to medium and add the gherkins and integrate it into the sauce. Now add 1 tablespoon of butter to finish the sauce and mix until it's melted, keep mixing, add another tablespoon of sauce and keep mixing to make it velvety. We use butter instead of cream in this sauce while the sauce will look creamy and lovely. Taste the sauce to insure he salt and pepper are correct. Once it's all incorporated, turn off the heat and it's time to serve.
6.- Take out the meat from the oven and turn off the oven. Place half of the sauce on the bottom of  each of your serving dishes and place the meat on top of the sauce. You can add salt & pepper if needed. If you've made a side dish to serve with this now is the time to offer this too. Enjoy!

This dish can be changed and adapted to other proteins, all you need is to begin the same way and create a fond. The wine can be changed for other liquors you like, cognac, brandy, red wine, rum, champagne or whatever or leave it out and just use stock.... You don't need to use gherkins, you can use vegetables like carrots or mushrooms, just par boil the carrots a little. The stock can be not just veal but chicken or beef or vegetable, you can also use water with some Worcestershire Sauce or soy, the butter can be replaced with heavy cream to finish too.... Experiment and you'll see what an easy and flexible preparation this can be plus so yummy!