Côtes de Porc Panées Viennoise

+ Cafe Saint George +

Pork chops breaded, pan seared and finished with mushrooms stewed in beer.

This dish is reminiscent of Austrian Schnitzel but uses pork chop instead of veal.  It is served at Saint George with Pommes de Terre á la Grande-Mère.
Total cooking time is 1 hr.  Makes 2 servings.

Ingredients:
2 medium pork chops
1 shallot
1/2 lb of Portobello mushrooms
1/2 of a lemon
1 T butter
12 oz of beer
1 egg
3 slices of French bread
Pantry:
olive oil
fresh parsley
Herbs:
paprika
caraway seeds
pepper
salt

Steps:
1) Toast slices of French bread until completely dry and brown.  Cut toasts into cubes and pulverize them with a wooden spoon until the consistency of a rough breadcrumb.  Breadcrumbs made this way are far superior to the tired, salty type which can be purchased. 

3: breaded chop

Furthermore, it is a matter of minutes to make them and the result is well worth it to both taste and pocketbook.
2) Beat egg with a couple drops of olive oil.  Oil will help emusifiy the egg and coat the meat evenly.  Place beaten egg in a flat bowl and place breadcrumbs on a plate.
3) Trim fat off the chops, so that they cook without warping.  Coat each chop thoroughly in egg and then thoroughly in breadcrumbs.  Hold the breaded chops on a platter.

4: chops in pan

4) Warm 1 T butter with 2 T of olive oil until very hot, which is just when butter turns brown.  Add the chops.
5) Cook the chops until the blood beads on the surface, then turn over.  Do not cook them too hard, else you will char the breadcrumbs. Dice the shallot and slice the mushrooms while waiting.
6) Once chops are turned over, add oil if necessary and add shallots in between the chops.  Remove chops when firm to the touch.
7) Add mushrooms and cook until wilted.

8: adding beer

8) Add beer and increase temperature until a vigorous simmer is achieved.  Beer should be a low hopped varietal.  We used a Scottish 80-Shilling Ale aged for 6 months.  This had a strong malt character with very gentle hop notes (hop bitterness will diminish over time).  Chop parsley and 2 slices of lemon while waiting.  Squeeze end of lemon on the reserved chops.




9) Once sauce is almost reduced, add 2 t of paprika and 1/8 t of caraway.  Add a slight amount of pepper to taste.  Salt is unnecessary as it will mask the subtle interaction between the beer and the paprika.
10) Cook sauce until nearly dry.  Remove from heat and tilt the pan.  Spoon the mushrooms on the platter while leaving the sauce at the bottom.  Place chops on the mushrooms and pour sauce over.  Garnish with lemon slices and then with chopped parsley.

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N.B. We make this with Simple Salad,  Pommes de Terre á la Grande-Mère and serve it with Leffe Brune.   This makes for an excellent meal and total cooking time was 1 hr 30 min -- not very long for a fine meal at low expense.