Pork Chops with Guinness Mushroom Gravy

This weekend in Milwaukee is Irish Fest! Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals for all the ethnic and music festivals that run all summer long at the Henry Maier Festival Grounds at the lakefront (bit of history: The festival grounds used to be a Nike missile base). Several festivals are the nation's largest ethnic festivals, including Festa Italiana, Polish Fest, Mexican Fiesta and, of course, the world's largest music festival - Summerfest.

But my absolute favorite is Irish Fest. It's not nearly the drunken debauchery that Summerfest has turned into and the music, food and beer is much better, IMO.

So, in honor of Irish Fest, I decided to make a Guinness gravy to go with the pork chops last night. The Spouse kept going back for more gravy - and he's not a huge sauce/gravy fan, so that's a pretty big compliment.

Pork Chops with Guinness Mushroom Gravy

1 tbsp olive oil
4 thick-cut pork chops
grill seasoning (such as the Spice House Back of the Yards Butcher's Rub)
beef broth
1 12-oz bottle Guinness Draught
8 oz mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 1/3 cup milk
3 tbsp flour
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Heat large pan over medium heat. Add oil to pan and swirl to coat. Lightly season chops and brown in pan, about 3-5 minutes each side. Set aside.

Deglace pan with a bit of beef broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Add mushrooms to pan and sautee until fragarant, about 5 minutes. Add in guinness, milk, flour and seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until reduced and thickened, about 15 minutes.

While sauce is simmering, finish the pork chops on the grill until done.