Drunken Pork Chops & Mushrooms

This is what happens when I don't have much in the fridge other than pork chops, beer and mushrooms.  Our friends brought over a couple beers, and one of them was a Magic Hat Heart of Darkness, which is so heavy and dark that I couldn't really drink it at all.  Turns out, though, it worked perfectly with mushrooms and pork chops.  

To start, sear a couple pork chops seasoned with salt and pepper in an oven-proof skillet.  Once they are beautiful and brown on each side, remove them from the pan.  

Add mushrooms to the pan, and sautee them for a couple minutes, until they, too, are brown and beautiful.

 Add the beer to the pan.  If you can't get your hands on the Magic Hat, you could use Guinness or any other stout with chocolaty undertones.  Add one or two cloves of diced garlic and two tbsp. of brown sugar to the mix.  Add a dash of cinnamon (the cinnamon plays really nicely with the chocolate in this recipe).  Stir it all up, and let it simmer until slightly thickened.  Add the pork chops back to the mix and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes to finish cooking the pork chops. 

Remove the pan from the oven, and stir in about 1 tbsp. of butter.  

I served this over wild rice, with a side of roasted broccoli.  

And I did not stand over the pan after I had finished this plate of food and eat the majority of the leftover mushrooms.  I also did not have lunch at 11 AM the following day just because I was so excited to eat this again.  

You can't prove it.