Pork Chops with Mustard Sauce Recipe

A moment to inspire a recipe

I had purchased her a medium boys Adidas soccer tee to wear for a game I wanted to take her to see, which was being shown at Restaurant Felix, a French Brasserie in SoHo, New York City. The tee shirt I purchased for her replicated the one I wore. It was one of those bonding things couples do in the nascent stages of a deepening relationship.

The World Cup Inspired this dish

Having been an avid traveler and a fan of sports, I had been influenced by those I had met along my journeys to appreciate the world’s most-watched sporting event, The World Cup. The affair is played every four years, which continues to bring to mind the people and cultures I experienced through my travels, and how the simple game of football can bring such pain, ecstasy, and National pride.

In turn, I found it a fundamental need for me to have introduced this young woman, wearing a fitted boys tee, to The World Cup before we could move onward and upward with our relationship.

This was 20 years ago when France was hosting the World Cup. The French National Team played well enough as to represent their country in the finals versus a very favored Brazilian team.

Felix just happened to be the Gallic and Brazilian supporter's enclave in the city in which to view games. This was due to its owners, the husband French, and the wife Brazilian. Needless to say, it was a passionate crowd that day and it was easy to get caught up in the fanfare.

There was a television at the bar, but it lacked one in the sitting area. This was before all the technology we have today, and I remember distinctly, another television being brought in and set up on a makeshift platform for all to see the game from where they were seated. Unlike today, with all the wide, high definition, television screens; in those days, one had to really pay attention to the game and the smaller, less sharp screen. It made for intimacy that is lacking today.

France defeated Brazil 3-0 that day.

Pork Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Since then, that girl wearing the boy's tee became my wife. Staying with the French theme here, I took her to Paris for our honeymoon. On that trip, I remember having a pork chop dish, that was smothered in a mustard cream sauce. I hadn’t tasted anything of the sort previous, and it instantly became one of my favorite dishes.  

I loved the sear on the pork, with the fatty edges slightly crisp, and the sharpness of the mustard being mellowed out by the cream. It made for drinking a cold bottle of Graves, a Bourdeaux white, easy. Like the game we saw together in Felix, it was memorable, to say the least.

Every four years, we are glued to the screen, no matter the time zone in which the games are being played, rooting on countries for which we have an affinity. Watching the World Cup together has always played a part in our lives. This year is a World Cup year, and now it has also become a part of our daughter’s life. France played the other day, and in honor of the memories I mentioned above, and to make new memories now, I made a pork chop with mustard sauce dish.

For the record, France won that game; and as a side note, neither my wife and I can fit into those tee shirts I mentioned. Blame it on the pork chop.

Here’s the Dish Our Town Recipe.

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