Pork Chops with White Chocolate Potato Crust and Merlot Mushrooms

Keltin

New member
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I cook for two, but you can easily double this recipe for more.

Pork Chops with White Chocolate Potato Crust and Merlot Mushrooms

Ingredients

--Chops
2 Pork Loin Chops
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2-3 cups seasoned Bread Crumbs

--Potatoes
1 bar (4 oz) White Chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup milk
4 medium potatoes, skinned and chopped
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Fresh Mint, minced (optional)

--Mushrooms
4 oz sliced Mushrooms (fresh)
2/3 cup Merlot wine
Butter

Procedure

In a large pot, boil potatoes until fork tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly grease a baking pan. In a bowl, comb egg and milk then whisk well. Dip the chops into the egg and milk, then dredge through the bread crumbs until nicely coated. Put coated chops on baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, then turn and bake another 10 minutes. Internal temp should be 155-160 at this point.

While chops are baking, add the chopped chocolate to the potatoes (add mint as well if you’re using it). Mash and Stir the potatoes to incorporate and melt the chocolate. Once it has all melted, begin adding milk as you stir. Keep adding milk and stirring until you achieve a smooth but stiff consistency. Now, add plenty of cracked black pepper, stir well, cover and set aside.

Once chops have baked for 20 minutes, remove from oven and turn on the broiler. Apply a layer (1/4”) of the chocolate potatoes to each chop. Sprinkle liberally with cracked black pepper. Use a fork to fluff and make swirls and spikes in the potatoes. Place under the broiler until the potatoes are just browning and the spikes are darkening.

While the chops are under the broiler, sauté the mushrooms in butter or Olive Oil until tender and they have released their moisture. Turn heat to high, then add the Merlot Wine. Cook, stirring often to reduce the wine. Once the wine has reduced by 2/3, remove from heat.

On a plate, ladle out some of the wine, Place the potato crusted chop in the wine, the add mushrooms to the plate. Sprinkle on fresh chives if desired and serve.

Notes

You use the white chocolate here instead of butter. It makes the potatoes very creamy, but a bit sweet. The black pepper adds a little bite and off-sets the sweetness a bit. You may want to salt these at the table to suit your tastes.

I really like the Merlot Mushrooms with this as they marry well with the sweetness of the potatoes making each bite of pork a real treat. In fact, the Merlot Mushrooms adding their savory touch to this is a key element to the dish. Note that in the last shot below the Merlot wine gives the meat that color – it is fully cooked!

Pictures

The chocolate.
Step_1-42.jpg


Step_2-41.jpg



Add the Chocolate to the potatoes and mash well. Then add your milk to achieve the desired texture.
Step_3-34.jpg



Sauté your Mushrooms in butter, then add your Merlot Wine.
Step_4-30.jpg



Here it is plated.
Step_5-24.jpg


Step_6-21.jpg



With each bite, it’s nice to dip the meat in the Merlot sauce. Very tasty, and gives it nice color.
Step_7-17.jpg
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
damn brother...

hey you interested in opening a small restaurant/eatery in Alabama?..lol
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Thanks guys!

Sure Bam, we'll blow these rednecks down here away. :lol:

Our weekend specials would be awesome!! :clap:
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
Thanks guys!

Sure Bam, we'll blow these rednecks down here away. :lol:

Our weekend specials would be awesome!! :clap:

i saw on the FN one time about a BBQ place...it was only open for 3 days a week...the place has been doing it for over 20 years and its always busy...lines from open to close... its like $18 a plate/AUCE...paper plates,plastic forks, when its gone its gone... thursday friday saturday
 

Adillo303

*****
Gold Site Supporter
Congratulations Keltin. That is awesome!

Bam & Keltin opening a restaurant. What more could a restaurant goer want?

Alabama should be a great location for BBQ and anyplace for Kentin's dishes.

Andy
 

QSis

Grill Master
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Absolutely beautiful presentation, Keltin!

But .... did you LIKE the white chocolate in the potatoes??? I mean, better than butter?

Lee
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
Absolutely beautiful presentation, Keltin!

But .... did you LIKE the white chocolate in the potatoes??? I mean, better than butter?

Lee

Honestly, by themselves......I did NOT like white chocolate in mashed potatoes. I’m just a southern boy at heart I guess.

When I was nearing completion of the dish, I’m tasting the potatoes, and I’m thinking, something is NOT right. I knew I wasn’t going to like it.

I went to the fridge and low and behold....Mushrooms!! And near the stove, my old stand by, Merlot Wine.

So I sautéed the mushrooms and made the Merlot wine sauce and then tried a bite of potatoes with a mushroom and the sauce....VOILA!!! That was it!!

When all of the flavors...the potatoes and chocolate, the pork, black pepper, Merlot sauce, and the Mushrooms....when all of those came together, it was incredible.

That is why I said the Merlot and Mushrooms are a key element. Without them, I don’t think I would have liked this dish very well.

It’s the same with many dishes really. If you leave out one element or key ingredient, then the whole taste profile changes.

So, mashed potatoes with white chocolate....NOT by themselves. At least not for me.

But, as a crust and element of this more complex dish? Yes, they were great!
 

sirena

New member
I have to know. Where did the idea to put the chocolate in the potatoes come from?? Was it from a cookbook? My initial reaction was...BLECH! But I believe you that it works. Just curious as to the inspiration and did it also call for the mushrooms or something similar. Absolutely beautiful presentation.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I have to know. Where did the idea to put the chocolate in the potatoes come from?? Was it from a cookbook? My initial reaction was...BLECH! But I believe you that it works. Just curious as to the inspiration and did it also call for the mushrooms or something similar. Absolutely beautiful presentation.

To tell the truth, I got the idea from Iron Chef America. Once someone suggested chocolate, I added it to the list. Later that night we were watching TV, and I was telling DW I might be sitting the Chocolate Battle out since I’m not a baker or dessert maker.

She was saying that there had to be some other way to cook it. We were kicking ideas around when I heard Alton Brown say the Challenger had just mixed white chocolate with.......WAIT!!!! I grabbed the DVR remote and rewound it. Yep, there it was, white chocolate and mashed potatoes. He used it as a bed for something....can’t remember what.

From there, I began thinking how could I use it? I decided it should be a crust on a fried chop since I love mashed potatoes and pork chops.

As I was cooking it and tasting it, the white chocolate seemed a bit overpowering to me. It was too “obvious” in the dish. I needed something savory to balance it out. That's when, at the last minute, I came up with the idea of the Mushrooms and Merlot.

When I originally typed up the recipe, the Mushrooms and Merlot were not part of it. But as I was preparing it and tasting it, it occurred to me that I needed them in there. And I was right. The final marriage of flavors really works. But it’s one of those dishes where you want to take a bite of everything at once. Just dabbing at the potatoes on top of the chops isn’t what you should do. :wink:
 

sirena

New member
Thanks for the explanation. I'm not as brave as you. That combo would not have gotten my attention except in a negative way. It's funny because I am reading a book called "The Soul of a Chef" and it has a lengthy section on Thomas Keller of the famous and lauded French Laundry restaurant in California. He does lots of things like that and they work amazingly well (thus the fabulous reviews he gets). I would try it because he is who he is but would never think to put things together the way he does. So bravo to you for stretching your cooking chops this far to try something new! I think you'd love the above mentioned book and also his beautiful cookbook.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I checked the net, and it turns out there are other white chocote recipes with mashed potatos. Although, it appears to be the same one repeated over and over. They used 1/2 the amount of chocolate I did. So if you try this, and you're nervous about it, then cut the amount of chocolate in half (2 oz) and see what you think.
 

Keltin

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I’ve got some of those potatoes left. I may add some roasted garlic to them, and then form patties out of them. Fry them up till crusty, and then ladle on a sauce made of onions, mushrooms, chives, beef broth, tomato paste, and Burgundy wine.

Also, if I get around to it this week, there is one more little thing (completely different) I want to add to the IC Chocolate Battle.
 

BamsBBQ

Ni pedo
Site Supporter
I’ve got some of those potatoes left. I may add some roasted garlic to them, and then form patties out of them. Fry them up till crusty, and then ladle on a sauce made of onions, mushrooms, chives, beef broth, tomato paste, and Burgundy wine.

Also, if I get around to it this week, there is one more little thing (completely different) I want to add to the IC Chocolate Battle.

well i cant wait for the next entry brother...i have one in the works as well... my little kitchen helper is going to help with the next entry:)
 
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