Pork Loin Chops with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce

Let me take you through my nightly schedule for a moment. At 6:30, I give my son a bath. At 7:00, I feed him his last bottle, sing to him, and put him to bed. As soon as he's in bed, I make dinner for Joe and me. (I typically always wait to make dinner until Andrew's in bed, because I want to maximize my time with him in the evenings -- and being in the kitchen cooking while he's too young to "help" really isn't the best way to accomplish this.) There are some nights I'm not done cooking, eating, and cleaning up until 8:30, and it can make the days seems really long. Last night, though? I started cooking at 7:00, and we were finished eating and the kitchen was completely clean by 7:45. And it's all thanks to this delicious, simple recipe.

This is another recipe (yes, another one) from Betty Crocker's Dinner Made Easy cookbook. I think this is my favorite cookbook right now; it's filled with tasty, simple recipes that can be made with ingredients I typically already have on hand. I made a few changes to this one; the original recipe called for the pork to be coated with sesame seeds and broiled, and also used regular garlic in the sauce. I skipped the sesame seeds, but to provide the same nuttiness I used roasted garlic cloves in the sauce, which was out-of-this-world good.

I've mentioned my love affair with cream cheese before, and I was excited to try it in this new application. It made the sauce wonderfully tangy, paired perfectly with the garlic, and provided a subtle sweetness. I served the pork with roasted cauliflower -- chopped, slathered with olive oil and salt and pepper, and cooked at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes -- and Joe even put the sauce on that, which he said was delicious.

I couldn't believe how quickly this came together and how good it tasted. I'll definitely be making this one again!


Pork Loin Chops with Roasted Garlic Cream Sauce
Source: adapted from Betty Crocker's Dinner Made Easy cookbook (2009 edition)

1 pound boneless pork loin chops
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves roasted garlic, finely chopped
4 ounces (half a brick) cream cheese
1/3 cup milk

1. Season pork liberally with salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook chops in olive oil until juices run clear.

2. Meanwhile, melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add chopped garlic cloves and saute for about 2 minutes.

3. Add cream cheese and milk to the garlic and stir until cream cheese is melted and sauce is hot, 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste (I went heavy on the pepper).

4. Serve sauce over pork chops.