Mushroom Risotto, Pork Chops and Brussels Sprouts

Last night’s dinner was pretty good. I was just too tired to write about it. We had pork chops, mushroom risotto, and Brussels sprouts.
I made up the pork chop sauce. I had ¾ of a jar of jalapeño jelly I had made. I warmed this with a very sweet apple and mashed into a sauce for the boneless pork chops that Jim grilled. The chops were simply seasoned with salt and pepper.
The Brussels sprouts were just microwaved. I love Brussels sprouts and always have. Jim does not like them so I got most of them.
Mushroom Risotto recipe came from Viansa Winery. I cut the following in half. This recipe serves 6-8 as a side dish, 4 as a main course.
Ingredients:
1/3 C dried porcini mushrooms
1C hot water
4 T butter
8oz. cremini or shitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
4-5 C chicken broth
1/2 C dry white wine
1T EVOO
¼ C minced onion
1 large garlic, minced
1 ½ C Arborio rice
1/3 C Parmesan cheese
1T chopped parsley
Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Soak dried mushrooms in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes, until soft. Remove from water, finely chop and set aside, reserving liquid. Strain liquid through a coffee filter and set aside.
2. Heat 2 T butter in a large sauté pan and cook fresh mushrooms over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, adding the reconstituted porcini during the last few minutes. Keep mushrooms warm.
3. Combine the strained mushroom liquid, chicken broth and wine in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. (I put it in a glass measuring cup, heated in the microwave and kept it hot with one minute boosts of power)
4. Heat the remaining 2 T butter and the EVOO in a pan and sauté onion and garlic for 2 minutes. Add rice, stir to coat and sauté 2-3 minutes. Add simmering broth a cup at a time and continue cooking over medium-high heat until all the liquid is absorbed and rice is tender but firm, moist, not dry. Add mushroom, Parmesan and parsley and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (I seasoned my rice as I was mixing in the broth)
This was a pretty good combination of flavors. It was good to keep the Brussels sprouts plain as they really stood out. I loved the sweet /hot/sour of the sauce on the pork chops and the chops were grilled to perfection. Not over done. Jim used a temp probe and cooked to beef medium rare. Pork recipes always have it overdone. The risotto added a creamy texture to the table.