Fricassée de Poulet À L'Ancienne

Old-fashioned Chicken Fricassee with Wine-flavoured Cream Sauce, Onions and Mushrooms

Another Julia Child's French classic cuisine: Chicken Fricassee. So what is Fricassee, you might ask. According to an online definition: "Fricassée is a traditional French stew made usually made with chicken" (source). It is similar to braising, but when you say fricassée, you do not brown the meat. Basically, it is a white stew.

There something to french cooking chicken dishes (that I made so far) that taste similar. I think that's because of the stock and white wine reduction. But for this dish, the heavy cream and egg gave a more creamy and smooth texture.

For me, the taste of this dish is good. Nothing very special, though I'm not saying this doesn't taste good. It is very tasty, but I think I'll just do this if I have left over heavy cream in the fridge.

But, if you're interested in making a fricassée, whether chicken, duck, rabbit, or any kind of meat, here are what you need:

for 4-6 pax

1-1.5 kg whole chicken, cut into parts
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
4 tbsp butter
salt and white pepper to taste (but don't make it too salty)
3 tbsp flour
3 cups boiling chicken stock/broth
1 cup dry white wine
herb bouquet garni (2 sprigs parsley, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 tsp thyme)
16-20 white braised onions*
250g fresh mushroom stewed in butter, lemon and water**
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup heavy cream
lemon juice
pinch of nutmeg

*white braised onions*
16 - 20 pearl onions/shallots
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper
2 tbsp butter
1 bouquet garni
   Place everything in a sauce pan and simmer very slowly, rolling the onions from time to time for 40-50 minutes. If the liquid evaporates during cooking, add more by spoonfuls

**mushroom stew**
250g fresh mushroom
1/3 cup water
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp butter
1. Bring the everything to boil except for the mushroom.
2. Add the mushroom and toss.
3. Cover and boil moderately fast, tossing frequently for 5 minutes.

1. Cook the vegetables slowly in butter for 5 minutes or until tender, but not browned. Push to one side, then raise heat to medium high.

2. Add the chicken, and turn it every 3-4 minutes, without coloring to more than golden yellow.

3. Lower heat to medium and cover for 10 minutes, turning the chicken once.

4. Sprinkle salt and white pepper to taste (but not too salty). Add the flour to the chicken until it coats all side. Roll it in the cooking butter. Cover and continue to cook slowly for 4 minutes, turning once.

5. Add boiling chicken stock, white wine and bouquet garni. Bring to simmer. Taste for seasoning. Simmer for 25-30 minutes. It is done when juice from drumstick when pricked with fork run clear.

6. Remove chicken to a side dish. Add the juice from the onion and mushroom to the cooking liquid. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes, removing the fat. Boil rapidly stirring frequently to thicken the sauce, enough to coat a spoon nicely. Correct seasoning.

7. In a mixing bowl, whisk in egg yolks and heavy cream. Add the hot liquid by small tablespoonfuls while whisking. Pour the sauce in a thin stream while whisking. After whisking, return the liquid to the casserole. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.

8. Correct seasoning, add drops of lemon juice and pinch of nutmeg.

9. Arrange the chicken, onion and mushroom in the casserole. Pour the sauce over it. Serve.

There you go! Bon appétit! :D

Mignon de Porc à L'Ail

Pork medallion with garlic, topped with wine-reduced caramelized shallots.

Last Saturday, I prepared a small dinner for my friend who is going to Germany next Tuesday. I invited him over to lend him some of my winter clothes. One of my friend, Jonathan, wanted to be my sous chef in cooking French cuisine, specifically a pork dish. I decided to try this recipe I stumbled upon a few weeks ago on the net. Apparently, it is one of the most popular dish in Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook.

Basically, this dish is baked pork tenderloin, wrapped in bacon. topped off with caramelized shallots, reduced in wine and dark chicken stock. Yuuum! I'm not much of a pork person, but I tell you, I really like this dish. Even my greatest food critique liked it! Although I think I made it a little dry (not very) and that's because I was unsure if the meat is cooked or not. I kept on removing and placing back the meat in the oven to check. I think the topping really made a difference. The sweetness of the caramelized shallots, infused it with reduction of the wine, and my semi-homemade dark chicken stock gave this dish a wonderful, wonderful flavour. Fantastico!

In order for you to make this, you need: (2-4 pax, depending on cut and appetite)

500 g pork tenderloin
4-5 bacon (enough to wrap the meat)
1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled cloves
salt and pepper
thyme
3 tbsp butter
olive oil
4 shallots
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup dark chicken stock* see below

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Season the unpeeled garlic cloves with salt, pepper and thyme. Wrap the in an aluminum foil and roast for 30 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes, mash half of the garlic with fork and rub it on the pork tenderloin. Reserve the other half for later. Leave the oven on.

4. Season the pork with salt and pepper. Wrap with bacon strips and tie it with kitchen string.

5. On a hot pan (high heat), add oil and 1.5 tbsp butter. When the butter stops foaming, brown the meat on every side. When the meat is browned all over, place in a roasting dish and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the inside temperature reaches 160F. Discard the fat from the pan.

6. Remove the meat when done, and wrap in an aluminum foil to allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes.

7. Slice the shallots into a "boat", quartered and separate thin layers. Add the rest of the butter in a hot pan and caramelize the shallot, about 5-7 minutes. Add wine and deglaze the pan. Reduce until the mixture is dry (with glaze consistency). Lower the heat and add stock. Simmer until it reduces to half. Whisk in the remaining garlic and add a few more splashes of wine. Season to taste.

8. Cut the tenderloin into 0.5" - 1" slices, and pour over the topping.

9. Serve.


*To make dark chicken stock: (1cup)

bones of chicken, gizzard, chicken scraps
mirepoix (1 celery, 1 carrot, 1 onion)
2 cups water (or if you like, chicken broth)
aromatics (1 bay leaf, 1/8 tsp thyme, 2 parsley sprigs)

1. Brown the chicken and the vegetables in hot pan.

2. Discard the fat, and pour in water, mirepoix and aromatics, and simmer for 1-2 hrs or more. Strain, degrease, and the stock is ready for use)



Please do try this. Very yummy! Even my critiques like it! :D

Enjoy! Bon Appétit!

Poulet Poêlé à L'estragon

Casserole-Roasted Tarragon Chicken

I bought a new French cookbook the other day entitled French: Easy Recipes, Techniques, Ingredients (Food for Friends). While browsing with Grace, we saw this recipe, and it looks very simple and very easy. I remembered Julia Child also has this recipe, so I checked it out. It looked more complicated and requires more ingredients than the former book. And from the ingredient lists, I think that both recipes taste very differently. The first one is creamy, while Julia's is savory. Given that I don't have one of the main ingredient for the first book (heavy cream), I went with Julia Child's version.

So yes, this is Julia Child's version. I'm sorry for the poor aesthetics of the photo. I also forgot to place the vegetables around the chicken. Anyway, the chicken came out very tender and very flavourful. Once you open the casserole from the oven (actually, even before you open), you can smell the buttery aromatics, and especially tarragon. The flavour and the aroma of tarragon really locked in the moist and tender meat. To be honest, this reminds me of Hainanese Chicken, although it differs in taste because of the herb and butter.  The sauce beside the chicken is the (brown) tarragon sauce. It gave the chicken another doze of malinamnam tarragon kick. It's supposed to be brown. The recipe requires a brown chicken stock, but I only have chicken stock from broth.

I think this dish is great for those who are living healthy(-ish). However for me, I still like my Poulet Bonne Femme (coming soon) better.

What you need: (4-6 pax)

1.2kg whole roasting chicken
3/4 tsp salt
pinch of pepper
4-8 tbsp butter*
3-4 sprigs of fresh tarragon or 1/2 tsp dried
cooking oil
1/2 cup sliced onions
1/4 cup sliced carrots
aluminum foil

for the Brown Tarragon Sauce

2 cups brown chicken stock
1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with
2 tbsp Madeira (I used dry white wine. BUT THIS IS NOT A CORRECT SUBSTITUTE)
2 tbsp fresh tarragon
1 tbsp softened butter


1. Pre-heat oven to 325F

2. Season the cavity of the chicken with salt, pepper and 1tbsp butter. Insert the tarragon leaves. Truss the chicken, closing the cavity. (I don't know how to truss(tie) a chicken, I improvised)

3. Set casserole over moderately high heat with butter and oil. Once the butter foam subsides, place the chicken breast side down. Brown the chicken on all side for 2-3minutes per side. Be careful not to break the skin. Add oil and butter if necessary.

4. After all sides have browned, remove the chicken. Pour out the fat if it has burned. *Add 3 tbsp butter

5. Cook the carrots and onions slowly for 5 minutes without them browning. Add the 1/4 tsp salt and tarragon.

6. Salt the chicken on all sides well. Place it on the bed of vegetables in the casserole, breast side up. Baste it with butter in the casserole. Lay a piece of aluminum over the chicken and cover the casserole. Reheat the casserole on the stove until you hear little crackling or sizzling sound (around 2-3 minutes).

7. Place the casserole in the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 1 hour and 10-20 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken. Baste once or twice with the butter and juice.

8. The chicken is done when juice from its vent is clear yellow. Remove the chicken to a serving platter.



For the sauce,

1. Add the stock to the casserole and simmer for 2 minutes, scraping the coagulated juice. Skim of all but a tablespoon of fat.

2. Blend in the cornstarch mixture and simmer, then bring to boil until lightly thickened.

3. Stir in the herbs and enrich with 1 tbsp butter. Pour into a sauceboat. Serve.


There you go! You now have a Poulet Poêlé à L'estragon à la Julia Child. :) I recommend using fresh tarragon than dried for this dish.

Sole Meunière

Actually, I used Cream Dory Fillet, not Sole. So I guess the appropriate title for this dish is Crème Doris Meunière. Sole is more expensive compared to Dory, so I'd rather use Dory. And besides, I already opened a pack of Dory Fillet (previous dish).

Don't worry, I didn't consume all that butter by myself.
I shared that buttery sauce with my sister. 

Sole Meunière is a classic French dish that uses Sole (kind of fish), dredged in flour, and cooked in butter. Lemon juice is then added to the resulting browned butter and poured over the fish as its sauce, garnishing with parsley. Some add caramelized onions to this dish, which is also very lovely. And I also tried Grace's  version where she added minced chili, together with the onion for that extra kick. YUMMY! But now, this is the very easy, classic version of this dish. Feel free to add ingredients for your own version!

for 1-2 person/s

fillet of sole/dory

1-1.5 tbsp unsalted butter

1-1.5 tbsp lemon juice

flour

salt and pepper

parsley

1. Pat dry the fish with paper towel, then coat it with seasoned flour.

2. On a medium-high skillet, melt the butter. When the foam from the butter starts to subside, add the fish and lower to heat to medium-low.

3. Fry the fish for 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown. Remove the fish and place it on a platter.

4. Using the browned butter sauce in the pan, add the lemon juice to the butter. Mix well. Pour the sauce over the fish.

5. Garnish with fresh parsley.

There you go! A classic French dish cooked in 10 minutes. Who said cooking French cuisine is hard? Bon appétit!

Boeuf Bourguignon

French Beef Stew in Red Wine with Bacon, Onions and Mushroom

Right from the oven.
(This may not look appetizing in my picture, but this is by far the most delicious beef stew I ever tasted.)

I finally have the guts to try what I think the most famous French beef stew, Boeuf Bourguignon. I first heard this dish on Julie and Julia some time ago. Towards the end of the movie, having a chance (Julie) to serve Julia Child a dish, she chose Boeuf Bourguignon. After watching, I really became curious on what this dish tastes like. Basically, it's beef stewed in red Burgundy wine and other aromatic flavors. Cooking this will take you around 4-5hrs, depending on the meat quality.

Following Julia Child's recipe (minus the bacon... I ran out of it), I was so nervous about the outcome halfway through. I tasted the stew before placing it in the oven and it was horrible. I was impatient to find out the end result, thinking that this will waste my time if not cooked properly. Praying that will turn out great, I trusted Julia's recipe, with a little hesitation. Besides, it's only halfway through. When the timer went off, I hurriedly took out the casserole and tasted it, and WOW! That's the best stew I ever had! Plus the fact that the beef is so tender. You can taste the flavor of the reduced Burgundy wine, the caramelized onions, and the beef in perfect harmony. Oh là là!!! It was perfect!

If you have the time to try cooking this dish, I swear, you got to do this one! Yes it's very long, not really tedious, but well worth it! You can use any good, dry red wine. Do not use the very expensive Burgundy wine. I used a younger Burgundy wine (read: cheaper than aged). You can use Pinot Noir if you have, or Boardeux, or any dry red wine of your choice. (Don't use sweet red wine)

(off topic: Today was a day of firsts for me. I met two kitchen-related accidents today while cooking this. Nothing serious, don't worry. First, while cutting some meat, I accidentally poked through my middle finger with the knife. It wasn't deep though, but very uncomfortable. Second was while getting the stew from the oven, my right arm accidentally touched the side wall of a 325F oven. Ouch! Don't get discouraged though. Every cook will encounter these small boo-boo's)

To make this awfully delicious Boeuf Bourguignon, you need the ff: (for 6 servings)

6 oz bacon, cut into 3-4 pcs per slice

3lbs (1.3kg) stewing beef cut into 2" cubes. (I used beef cubes from Monterey)

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp flour

3 cups red Burgundy wine

2-3 cups beef stock

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

1/2 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

18-24 small white onions braised in stock* (I used sibuyas tagalog)

0.5 kg qtr fresh mushrooms sautéed in butter (I used canned mushrooms)

Parsley for garnish

for braising the small white onions, you need:

oil

butter

1/2 cup brown beef stock, white wine, red wine or water

salt and pepper to taste

herb bouquet (4 parsley sprigs, 1/2 bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme)

1. Sauté bacon in oil for 2 to 3 minutes until lightly browned.

2. Preheat oven to 450F

3. Pat dry the beef (Very important to pat dry meats. It won't brown if not dry). On a very hot casserole, sauté the beef until brown on all sides. Do not overcrowd the pan. Set aside with the bacon.

4. Using the same oil, brown the carrots and onions. When done, set aside. Discard the oil.

5. Return the beef and bacon into the casserole and toss with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with flour and toss to coat the beef lightly. Set the casserole uncovered in the oven for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, toss the meat around and return for another 4 minutes. Remove the casserole and cool down the oven to 325F.

6. Stir in the wine and beef stock until the meat is barely covered.  Add tomato paste, garlic, and herbs. Bring to a simmer on top of stove.  Cover the casserole and place it in the oven for 3-4 hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily. (I basted the meat every hour to prevent it from burning/drying up. But it's not necessary, hence the burnt mark on my arm)

*7. While the beef is cooking, remove the skin of shallots. (You can remove the skin easily by having the onion dip in a boiling water for a few seconds one at a time) In a small to medium pan, when the butter is bubbling, sauté the onions in oil and butter for 10 minutes. Pour in the liquid and season to taste. Add the herbs. Cover and simmer slowly for 40-50minutes until the liquid has evaporated. Set aside

8. Sauté mushrooms in butter and oil for 4-5 minutes.

9. When the meat is tender, pour the contents into a sieve over a saucepan. Return the beef and bacon in the casserole. Distribute the vegetables. onions and mushroom.

10. Skim most of the fat off the sauce. Simmer the sauce for a minute to skim off additional fat. If the sauce is too thin, boil rapidly until thick. If too thick, mix in a few tbsp of stock. Taste carefully. The sauce must be perfect after this. Pour the sauce over the meat.

11. Simmer for 2 - 3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables. Decorate with parsley. Serve.

For later serving, wait until the stew cools. cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, simmer very slowly for 10 minutes.

Overall, it's pretty long cooking, but I assure you, it is really worth it! Just don't let anyone ruin this dish. I can't wait to do this for my lucky friends. 

Poulet Sauté à la Crème

Sautéed Chicken in Cream

Earlier this week, I cooked a beef recipe with creamy sauce in it for my friends and left an opened carton of heavy cream in the fridge. I'm so worried that it might end up unused and spoiled after this week, so I decided to cook another creamy viand for tonight. I browsed through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking and saw this simple recipe (with a lot of variation from the original recipe).

Basically it's just chicken with heavy cream sauce, with the addition of wine, onions and mushrooms. The moment you take a bite of this fine dish, you will feel the tenderness, the juiciness and the cheesiness of the chicken. Plus add the creaminess with a hint of wine of the sauce. Oh là là, le gastronome! It's very easy to do, very quick, and best if you're going to entertain guests in a hurry. I suggest this dish when you need  quick food for your hungry guests.

(Please note that I greatly varied my recipe from Julia Child's. Nevertheless, I'll give you mine)

What I did was (good for 4-6 people):

8 chicken breasts, pat dried
flour
salt and pepper
paprika*
dried tarragon
grated parmesan cheese*

1 can chopped mushrooms*
unsalted butter
cooking oil
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 red onion, minced


1. Combine on a plate the flour, salt and pepper, paprika, tarragon and grated parmesan cheese. Mix thoroughly. After drying the chicken breasts, evenly coat it with the flour mixture.

1.a.**edit** Sauté the mushroom with oil and butter for around 4 minutes. Set aside <-- I forgot this step

2. On a hot casserole, combine cooking oil and around 2 tbsp butter. Add the chicken when the foam from the butter begins to subside. Sauté the chicken until golden brown (Actually, I fried the chickens until done). Remove the chicken and set aside.

3. Remove all but 3tbsp of fat from the casserole and deglaze with the wine. Reduce to 3tbsp. Add the heavy cream and boil until thick. Add the mushroom and continue to simmer for about 1 minute.

4. Remove from heat. Add 2 tbsp of butter to the hot liquid, stir and pour the sauce over the chicken. Serve with rice or noodles. Great with dry white wine.

Bon appétit!


The ingredients with (*) are not in the original recipe.

Soupe à L'Oignon Gratinée

Or French Onion Soup Gratinée.

I think this soup is one of the most popular soups (or popular French food) in the world. And as Julia Child stated in her TV Show, The French Chef, "... the soup that made the onion famous." It is made primarily with beef stock and caramelized onions and served with croutes and Swiss cheese.

I really love serving my family and friends this classic French Onion Soup because of the sweet aroma from caramelized onion and the creaminess and cheesiness from Swiss cheese. I love how this soup is served because all the texture and flavours that plays in your palette go so great together: from the sweet onions, to the crunchy croutes, to the creamy and cheesy cheese on top. Oh là là! All the hours of preparing (and crying over the onions) and cooking this soup is really worth it after you take those first sip. hmmm

This recipe is taken from Julia Child's show "The French Chef" (and I think this is also in her book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"). Oh here's a trivia: Did you know that Julia Child's final meal is this soup? [http://nrn.com/article/julia-child-facts-and-trivia]

To make your own Soupe à L'Oignon Gratinée, you need "an awful a lot of onions" (Child, 1963):


Prep and cooking time: ~2 hrs
serves 6-8

1 kg of yellow onions
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour
6 cups beef stock (2 cubes beef broth + 6 cups water)
1 cup wine (dry red or white)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp ground sage
1/2 raw onion
2-3 tbsp cognac
salt and pepper
100 g Gruyère/Swiss Cheese/Emmentaler/Jarlsberg/Appenzell/Raclette (or any good melter. Please don't use Quickmelt brand)
bread for croutes
olive oil



1. Place heavy bottom stock pot over medium-low heat


2. Add 1 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp butter


3. Add sliced onion and stir until they are evenly coated with oil


4. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until they are tender and translucent


5. To brown or caramelize the onion, turn the heat to medium-high


6. Add sugar, salt and continue to cook uncovered, stirring frequently until the onions have browned and reduced significantly


7. Once caramelized, reduce heat to medium-low and add 3tbsp flour


8. Brown the flour for 2-3 minutes (If the flour doesn’t form a thick paste, add butter)


9. Stir 1 cup of warm beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to get the cooked bits


10. Add the rest of the stock, wine, sage and bay leaf


11. Simmer for 30 minutes


12. Check soup for seasoning


13. Remove bay leaf


14. Transfer to casserole dish


15. Add cognac and grate ½ raw onion


16. Add a few ounces of cheese directly to soup and stir


17. Place the bread/croutes on top of the soup. (To make croutes, cut a french baguette 1 inch thick, or any bread if you don't have baguette, and coat it with olive oil. toast/bake it for about 5-8 minutes until crispy)


18. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese in a thick layer over the bread. (can be served as it is)


19. Drizzle with little oil


20. Place in a 170ºC (350ºF) for about 30 minutes or until the cheese has brown


21. Serve hot.


Bon appétit!

Côtes de Porc Poêlées avec Sauce Moutarde à la Normande

Or simply Casserole-sautéed Pork Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce.

Please excuse my plating and photography skills :)

For my first food post, I did a pork recipe. Normally I would do a chicken breast recipe since it's easier. But when I decided to document it and create a food blog about my cooking experience, this is what's in store for tonight.

These two recipes, the pork chops and the sauce, are both from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. And I must say, for those of you who want to learn how to cook, especially la cuisine française, you have to have this book. This will teach you every techniques, tips, tricks and every skills you need as a culinary student (or a stay-at-home-kitchen-student like me!)

Let's go to the food!

I would say I really, really love the mustard sauce! Frankly, I don't like mustard (yes, even on hotdogs) but this sauce is so creamy! Although I think I failed to make it a little thicker, maybe an extra minute or two in making the sauce would be enough. On the other hand, the pork chops for me are a little tough. I don't know, maybe I did something wrong in sautée-ing it? However, the taste is not really something special. At the end of the day, they're just pork chops sautéed in butter and herbs. The sauce gave this dish a wow factor for me though, and some of the herb-marinade.

How can I make pork chops a little more tender? Fry? Bake? Pressure cook? Boil? I hope someone can answer my noob question.

Here are the recipes for the marinade, pork chops and sauce!

Marinade Simple (Lemon Juice and Herb Marinade)
per half-kilo/pound of pork
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3 tbsp lemon juice (I used local calamansi)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 parsley sprigs
1/4 tsp thyme or sage
1 bay leaf
1 clove mashed garlic

1. Rub salt and pepper into the meat. Mix the other ingredients in a bowl, add the pork and baste it. Place a lid over the bowl. Turn and baste the meat 3 or 4 times during its marination period.

2. Before cooking, scrape off the marinade, and dry the meat thoroughly with paper towels.

Cotês de Porc Poêléesfor 6 pax

6 marinated pork chops 

3-4 tbsp pork fat, lard or cooking oil

2 tbsp butter 

2 halved cloves garlic (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 325F(160C)

2. Dry pork chops with towel. Heat the fat or oil in the casserole until it is almost smoking, then brown the chops 3-4 minutes on each side. As they are browned, transfer them to a side dish.

3. If the chops have not been marinated, season them with salt, pepper, and 1/4 tsp thyme or sage.

4. Pour the fat out of the casserole and add the butter and garlic*. Return the chops, overlapping them slightly. Baste them with butter. Cover and heat the casserole until the meat is sizzling, then set in lower third of preheated oven for 25-30 minutes

5. Turn and baste the chops once or twice. They are done when the meat juices run a clear yellow with no trace of rose.

Sauce Moutarde à la Normandefor about 2 cups
1/3 cup cider vinegar
10 crushed peppercorns
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
Salt
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp water
1-2 tbsp butter

1. Strain the meat juice into a bowl and degrease them.

2. Pour the vinegar and the peppercorns into the casserole and boil until the vinegar has reduced to about a tablespoon. Pour in the meat juice and boil them down rapidly until they have reduced to about 2/3 cup.
(for here, I only had 1/2 cup of meat juice. I just waited for it to reduce a little bit) 

3. Add the cream and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring in salt to taste. Beat in the mustard and water mixture and simmer for 2 or 3 minutes more. Sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. Correct seasoning.

4. Turn off the heat and swirl in the butter. 

5. Serve the sauce on the side or pour over the chops.

6. Garnish with fresh parsley and good plating skills. 

Et voila! Julia Child's Côtes de Porc Poêlées avec Sauce Moutarde à la Normande. And as she would say, Bon Apetit!