Ingredients
6 1thick loin pork chops well trimmed
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 1/2 cup gruyere cheese,finely grated
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup heavy cream, divided
1/4 cup plus 2t. calvados brandy
1 or any apple flavored brandy
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Directions
Saute' pork chops until browned in melted butter in an oven proof
skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle chops with salt and pepper; cover
and bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.
Combine cheese, Dijon mustard and 4 Tbl. of heavy cream; spread
mixture evenly over pork chops. Broil 5-6 " from heat, remove from
oven immediately when cheese is lightly browned. Remove pork chops
from skillet to a serving platter (keep warm), reserving all
drippings in skillet.
Add Calados brandy to dripping in skillet; cook over fairly high heat,
deglazing skillet by scraping particles that cling to the bottom.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add remaining heavy cream and continue
cooking, while stirring constantly until slightly thickened.
Pour sauce over pork chops and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.
From the recipe files of suzy@gannett.infi.net
Servings: 6 servings
Pork Chops Calvados Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Beverages; Meat; Pork
The History of Recipes
Written cooking instructions as an idea can be observed back into history, at least as far back into recorded history as the Egyptians, and maybe further still. Having said that, these, old recipes were just very basic hieroglyphic or cunieform recipes for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the oldest recipe discovered, according to academics are some ancient tablets in the Sumerian language which show the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as making drinkers feel blissful and exhilarated. Progressing into Roman times 25BC a man called Apicius compiled a few documents describing recipes prepared by his fellow Romans. In his publication, Apicius tells us how the roman meals were split into hors d`oeuvres, entrees and dessert, a style of dining still practiced today. Aspicius recounts how the ancient cooks were skilled in the use of many different herbs, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as basil, fennel and asafoetida. Continuing our culinary historical journey, there are a couple of interesting books from the 14th Century - a cookery book titled `Forme of Cury`, and another named `Curye on Inglish`. Don`t be fooled by the titles though, these books are nothing to do with the indian food that is popular today, but rather descriptions of the types of food on the menues of the nobility of that period. Later on, in the 15th century, the Crusaders brought back many foods, spices and herbs from the holy land, including coriander, parsley, and basil. These new culinary innovations created an outbreak in recipe manuscripts, many of which are now in academic collections. Over the succeeding few hundred years, the wealthy families of the West competed with each other to serve up the best banquets, and consequentially the best cooks and their recipes were much in demand. Notwithstanding that, it wasn`t until the 1800s that fine cookery and recipe collections became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally famous Fannie Farmer in the USA, spent years to collating, verifying, and recording popular recipes of the day. When we get to the twentieth century, cooking books were in great demand, due to better eduction, more leisure time and having more disposable income. The TV revolution brought us TV cookery programs and the spin-off recipe books. And that pretty much brings us to the present day and the internet revolution, allowing us all to access massive numbers of recipes like those on this web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Pork Chops Calvados recipe.
