Madeira is a fortified wine made on Madeira Island of Portugal. Once a key part of American culture—Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were fans, as were most of their social contemporaries—now Madeira is virtually unknown to American drinkers. Produced in varying levels of dryness from dry to sweet, Madeira has high acidity levels, which makes it a perfect base for sauces to accompany fatty proteins. We particularly like to use it with pork, and this easy pan sauce has just a hint of sweetness with a clean acidic finish that goes excellently with pan-fried pork chops. Use the drippings from cooking the pork chops in place of safflower oil if you can. In fact, you can make the sauce in the same pan once the pork chops are removed. The easiest way to crack the peppercorns for this sauce is using a mortar and pestle.
MAKES: ¼ cup (60 ml)
PREP TIME: 10 minutes
COOK TIME: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 tsp (10 ml) safflower oil
- 1 shallot, minced finely
- ½ tsp minced thyme leaves
- 1 tsp (5 g) cracked black peppercorns
- ¼ cup (60 ml) medium-sweet Madeira
- 1 tsp (5 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 cup (240 ml) Meat Stock
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
- ⅛ tsp allspice
- 1 tbsp (15 g) cold butter
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat the safflower oil in a small sauté pan over medium low heat and add the shallot, thyme and peppercorns. Sauté until the shallot is softened, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the Madeira and lemon juice and simmer until the liquid is reduced by a little less than half, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the meat stock and whisk well. Simmer the sauce until bubbles form across the entire pan and the liquid is reduced by half, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the salt, pepper and allspice. Remove the pan from heat and add the butter and stir until it is melted. Serve spooned over pork chops.
