Guest Post (FoodFiend): Recipe: Grandma's Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce

OK. So. It's been a while since FoodFiend posted, but reports of my death (and diet, apparently) have been greatly exaggerated.

Seriously, though, I have been trying to eat a bit healthier, which is a bit difficult since I tend to lean toward the home-cooking soul-food side of the food spectrum. But tonight we made a repeat that bears sharing - the recipe from allrecipes.com is called Grandma's Pork Chops in Mushroom Sauce. I don't know whose Grandma she was, but dang, she sure had a better grasp of pork chops than our Shake N Bake grandma ever did.

Here's the recipe:
1 tablespoon butter
1 clove garlic, pressed
6 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste
8 oz sliced mushrooms (the original recipe called for canned, but I scoff at the thought of canned mushrooms)
1 cup dry sherry
1 can beef broth
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute briefly, enough to make the kitchen smell yummy. Season pork chops with salt and pepper and fry in skillet until browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove the pork chops to a baking pan.

Put the mushrooms into the skillet wih the pork drippings and garlic and saute briefly. Add the beef broth and sherry and bring to a boil, then pour them over the chops in the pan. Cover with a lid or aluminum foil.

Bake for 45 minutes, then remove the lid or foil, and bake fore another 15 minutes. Remove the chops from the pan to a serving platter, and add the cornstarch and water to the baking dish on the stovetop and bring to a boil to thicken the gravy. Spoon sauce over the chops and serve.

OK, I didn't take a picture, but we were too anxious to dive into it, and it's not necessarily such an attractive dish - pork chops topped with mushrooms and gravy - but it sure is yummy!