Recipe(tried): Simple Pork Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Thank you all for your kind words this week! You all are the best!! I'm glad you all are doing so much to help and try and heal. Gladys - I would LOVE to hear a synopsis of what your friends discussed tonight!!

My mother is staying with my sister's kids this week while my sister and her hubby take a week together in the mountains. I really admire that they take a bit of time for themselves like that, and I'm hoping they are having a second honeymoon (or maybe their 5th) after 17 years of marriage. My sister has a huge veggie patch and my mother picked some huge cherry tomatoes as well as some yellow pear-shaped cherry tomatoes and dropped them by.

So, I cooked for my father alone tonight. As I've mentioned, he has to watch his cholesterol, but I wanted something that felt "rich" tonight. I made this pork chop dish (the recipe is approximate in measures since I "winged it"), and served it with noodles (he doesn't want "pasta" - he wants "noodles"!!!), green beans, and a tomato salad made with all these varieties of tomatoes mixed with some slivered onion, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Italian parsley and lots of salt and pepper. Boy will I miss tomato season....

Simple Pork Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce
Serves 4

4 boneless pork chops
garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper
canola or olive oil
2 TBL finely minced shallot or onion
2/3 cup dry white vermouth or white wine (chicken broth or even water could replace)
2 TBL capers, chopped
1 TBL Dijon mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
6 TBL sour cream (I used fat free and it worked great)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350F degrees.

Sprinkle both sides of the meat lightly with the seasonings. Heat a large saut pan that is large enough to hold pork chops in one layer until quite hot. Add just enough oil to film the pan. Add pork chops and brown well on each side. Remove from pan and place in oven for about 10 minutes to finish cooking.

In the same pan, add the shallots or onions and stir for just a minute, then add the vermouth or wine. Cook over medium-high heat for a few minutes, scraping up any bits that crusted the bottom of the pan in the browning of the pork chops. After the liquid is reduced by nearly half and looks a little thicker and richer, stir in the capers, mustard and Worcestershire. Blend well and cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the sour cream until smooth. Taste for seasoning. Put the chops and any accumulated juices into the sauce and warm together for a couple of minutes over low heat.