On one of the sunny days that hit London recently, I got the chance to dine al fresco in the back garden. It was the perfect time to dip into Vincent and Mary Price’s A Treasury of Great Recipes for inspiration as to what to do with a number of pork shoulder medallions – and there I found Pork Cutlets Escorial.
‘This dish is tremendous, as is the Escorial’, wrote Vincent about the pork cutlet recipe that he got from a chef at the Palace Hotel in Madrid, which is named after Philip II’s ‘gloomy old palace and monastery’ – just the sort of place that would suit our favourite Gothic horror star.
This dish is incredibly easy to make, and the fusion of olives, cream and Brown sauce was winner. I did, however, leave out the glacéed chestnut (aka Marrons glacés) as they were out of season.
The recipe also calls for Mustard Fruits, which originated in Cremona, Lombardy, Italy and are made from unripe fruit preserved in a syrup that has been combined with mustard oil. As I didn’t have any, I substituted it with some homemade chutney that I had lurking in the back of a cupboard and it worked a treat.
INGREDIENTS
Pork cutlets
Dijon mustard
Salt, pepper
Butter
Flour
Mustard fruits
Dry white wine
Cream brown sauce
Large stuffed olives
Glacéed chestnuts
PORK CUTLETS
1 Rub: 4 pork cutlets with 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard each, and sprinkle with a little salt and some ground pepper.
2 In a skillet heat: 2 tablespoons butter in it sauté the pork cutlets for 5 minutes on each side, or until brown. Reduce heat and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Transfer cutlets to warm dish and keep warm.
SAUCE
1 Discard all but 1-tablespoon drippings in pan.
2 Add to pan: 1-tablespoon flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3 Add: 1 cup dry white wine, bring to rapid boil and boil briskly, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.
4 Stir in: ½ cup cream, 3 tablespoons brown sauce [I used HP Sauce], 8 large stuffed olives, finely chopped, and 4 glacéed chestnuts.
5 Return pork cutlets to sauce and simmer for 3 minutes.
6 In a small pan heat: 6 tablespoons finely chopped mustard fruits in their syrup.
PRESENTATION
Transfer cutlets to warm serving dish, cover with sauce and top each cutlets with a glacéed chestnut. Drain the chopped mustard fruits and sprinkle on top.
