Pork Chops with Mushroom Bourbon Sauce

Thirty-five weeks and we had a pre-baby gathering at Steve and Patty house on Sunday — not a shower, because I said no shower, but a family Sunday dinner with the specific energy of everyone knowing what is coming in the next few weeks. Babcia Rose was there. She is 88 and she has been saying she will not be around forever for the past fifteen years and she was there, in her good earrings, eating Sunday dinner at the table.

She held my hands at the end of the evening and looked at me for a long time without saying anything and then she said: you are ready. I said: I think so. She said: you are ready. Not asking. Telling. Then she said she had made something for the babies that she would give me when they came. I said what is it. She said I would see when they came. I said Babcia Rose. She said: you will see. She is 88 and she has been making things her whole life and she is making one more thing for the babies who are not here yet and who she intends to know. I am holding that sentence very carefully.

Ryan has been home for most of this week on the modified schedule and the apartment has the specific energy of two people who are ready and waiting. We have cooked dinner together every night, which is the thing we do when we have time, and the things we have been making are simple: roasted chicken, pasta with olive oil and garlic, a pot of the white bean soup that has been with us since January 2020. The simplest food for the last ordinary week. The food that has always been ours.

The blog post this week is about the last week before the last ordinary week, which is what this is. I said: we are almost there. The comments are the warmest they have been all year. I am going to go eat some soup and wait.

The roasted chicken and the white bean soup were doing their work this week — simple, reliable, ours — but the night I wanted something that felt a little more like a full exhale, this is what I made. Pork chops with a mushroom bourbon sauce have the same quality as all the food that has carried us through this last stretch: they require attention but not anxiety, they smell like a home that is ready, and they taste like something you made because you wanted to, not because you had to. If you are in your own version of a waiting week, this is the dinner I would hand you.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 35 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 bone-in pork chops (about 3/4 inch thick)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup bourbon
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (optional, for thicker sauce)
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Season the chops. Pat pork chops dry with paper towels. Mix salt, pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika together and season both sides of the chops generously.
Sear the pork. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and sear without moving them for 4–5 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through (internal temperature of 145°F). Transfer to a plate and tent loosely with foil.
Cook the mushrooms. Reduce heat to medium. Add 1 tablespoon butter to the same skillet. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until they release their moisture and begin to brown.
Add garlic and bourbon. Add the minced garlic and stir for 30 seconds. Carefully pour in the bourbon — it may sizzle and steam — and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Let the bourbon reduce by half, about 1–2 minutes.
Build the sauce. Add chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, and thyme. Stir to combine and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 4–5 minutes until slightly reduced. If you prefer a thicker sauce, stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook 1 more minute.
Finish with butter. Remove from heat and swirl in the remaining tablespoon of butter for a glossy, rich sauce.
Serve. Return pork chops to the skillet, spoon the mushroom bourbon sauce generously over the top, garnish with fresh parsley, and serve immediately. Pairs well with mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or crusty bread.

Nutrition (per serving)

Pork Chops with Mushroom Bourbon Sauce — The Kind of Dinner You Make When You’re Ready and Waiting