Pork Chops with Garlic Mushroom Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, and Berbere Brussel Sprouts

All agreed, it certainly looks delicious

I'm gonna lose some "Chef Cred" for this saying this, but I'm not in the habit of being dishonest: I don't like pork. It's supposed to be this superbly versatile, all-in-one protein that every chef on TV seems to go gaga for. But I just can't bring myself to love it. It tastes like dried out chicken, with the texture of dried out beef.

Before I continue, let me make an important distinction. When I say things like: "I don't like pork," I'm not talking about bacon. I love bacon. Everyone loves bacon. Even people who don't eat bacon love bacon. So don't bring up bacon as a defense of pork. You're preaching to the choir.

Despite my distaste for swine, Jess has a tendency to buy it. Pork is often on sale, and can be quite cheap even at regular prices (which is probably why chef's love it so much). And so, continuing the trend of a thrifty kitchen, I work with what I have. There's nothing particularly special about this pork chop dish. But it's easy and has a lot of flavor. And uses ingredients that you probably have tucked into your pantry, which is the point.

Sizzle

Start off with the chops. I had three. The perfect version of this recipe would include four. Season up the pork with some salt and pepper, and drop them into a medium heat pan. I put a bit of bacon grease into the pan, but any oil would do. Just a couple minutes per side. We're not cooking them here, just putting some color on. Once nice and browned up, take them out of the pan and set aside.

Other ingredients

Now drizzle just a tiny bit of olive oil into the pan. Once that heats up, put some thinly sliced garlic into the oil, and let it sautee for just a minute or so. Just until they start to turn gold. Then, open up a can of cream of mushroom soup, and dump the whole thing into the pan. Just as quickly, pour in a half a cup of milk, and stir to combine. I also put in a little paprika, onion powder, and mustard powder.

Mix, stir, mix, stir

Once the gravy is beginning to bubble, put the chops back into the pan, put a lid on it, and drop the heat to a simmer. Let it sit this way for about 10-15 minutes. Half way through, turn the chops over and stir the gravy, making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan. Afterwards, pull the lid off, stir again, and let the gravy reduce to your desired thickness.

Simmer and bubble

The chops were good. Again, nothing landmark, but crowd-pleasing and easy. The real break away hit of the meal, however, was the Berbere brussel sprouts... I know, right? "Who woulda thunk it?" (© Chuck Fager, 2012) Berbere is an Ethiopian spice blend. It's spicy and earthy. And, as I was pleasantly surprised to discover, pairs REALLY well with brussel sprouts.

In case you've never heard of the stuff, or want to know what it looks like

The preparation is extremely simple. Trim your sprouts, toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and as much of the Berbere as you want. Be warned, it is spicy. I used about a teaspoon. Roast them at 425º until they're brown and crispy outside. I had really small sprouts, so I roasted them whole. Took about a half hour.

In case you were wondering what sprouts in an oven looked like

Something about the funky-cabbagey flavor of the sprouts harmonized with the spice elements (note: spice, not spicy) of the Berbere. Together there was almost an anise note creeping through. I highly recommend trying this. It's always a fun surprise to stumble on to something delicious.

Notes: There were some mashed potatoes mentioned in the top line. But you don't need me to tell you how to make mashed potatoes. Also, "thunk" is in fact a word. My dad would be happy to point that out to you. And, apparently, so would I.