Vernon WadeThere are lots of cooks out there who actually know what they are doing. I pretty much taught myself to cook, out of necessity. I haven’t a clue most of the time, but I do love to eat. 

I have made everything posted here. If I can do it, you certainly can. Someday, if there is enough interest, I will gather all these recipes into a cookbook. In the meantime, in the spirit of dashes, dollops and three-fingered pinches, I present them here for you to try. Let me know what you think.

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

 

Karbonade

A Latvian favorite, this breaded pork and mushroom dish pairs well with potatoes and pilsner.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 2

Equipment

  • Knife, meat mallet, plastic wrap or cheesecloth, skillet, oven

Ingredients
  

  • 2 boneless pork chops
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 oz whole milk
  • 4 oz cream
  • 3/8 cup flour
  • 3/8 cup bread crumbs
  • to taste salt and pepper
  • 1 dollop dijon mustard
  • 1 splash cooking oil
  • 2 or 3 pats butter
  • 2 double handfuls sliced chanterelles
  • 2 small onions chopped
  • 1 small handful dill and parsley chopped fine

Instructions
 

  • Trim fat from pork chops and place between plastic wrap or cheesecloth.
  • pound pork chop with meat mallet, reducing it in thickness to a little less than 1/2"
  • season with salt and pepper and lightly brush both sides with dijon mustard.
  • in a bowl combine milk and egg and beat until smooth and uniformly mixed.
  • place the flour in another bowl. Dredge pork chops in flour, coat with egg and sprinkle both sides evenly with bread crumbs.
  • put oil and one pat of butter in a large skillet and heat until butter foams. Fry battered chops in skillet until golden brown on both sides (about 4 minutes each side)
  • Remove cooked chops to baking dish and add more butter to skillet, reducing the heat. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent.
  • Stir in sliced chanterelles and cook for 5 minutes or so. If they were picked during the rains and are a little soggy, you might want to dry saute the mushrooms in a separate pan until they release their moisture, before cooking them with the onions
  • When the mushrooms and onions have begun to caramelize, remove the skillet from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Carefully stir in the cream and return to low heat, stirring gently while it simmers and thickens. This should take about 5 minutes. season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 350F
  • Ladle the mushroom cream sauce over the pork chops in the baking dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
  • Garnish with chopped dill and parsley. serve with beer and potatoes.

Notes

I first heard of Karbonade watching one of Dainis Rijkuris's True Latvian shorts. It sounded good, so I looked up a recipe and gave it a try. Since I can't follow directions, this recipe is a close approximation of what I came up with. It was good enough that I know I will try it again. The mushroom sauce is simple and tasty; I will try it in other dishes as well.