Italian Breaded Pork Chops

Italian breaded pork chop served with fresh corn on the cob and mashed potatoes.

A while ago, I said that I can mess up pork chops pretty bad. Since Rodney had requested pork chops specifically, I bought a family pack of loin chops and decided to give a couple of them a whirl.

It wasn't until after I found this recipe on All Recipes and started preparing it that I realized we've had these before, more than a year ago, and they didn't turn out too bad. I cut the recipe to accomodate 2 chops rather than 4, though it wasn't exact (i.e. 2 eggs is easier than 1.5 eggs and thus 3 tbsp milk was reduced to 2). As usual, you can click the link for the source.

Italian Breaded Pork Chops

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 tbsp milk

3/4 c Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 pork chops

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a shallow bowl, beat together the eggs and milk. In an 8x8 baking dish, mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Heat the olive oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium heat. Stir in the garlic, and cook until lightly browned. Remove garlic, reserving for other uses.

Dip each pork chop into the egg mixture, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating evenly. Place coated pork chops in the skillet, and brown about 5 minutes on each side.

Place the skillet and pork chops in the preheated oven, and cook 25 minutes, or to an internal temperature of 160°F (70°C).

First off, I have to commend whoever came up with the recipe for allowing more than enough breading to complete the breading process! One thing I cannot stand is a recipe that allows only enough breading for most, but not all, of the items to be breaded. There is nothing more annoying than having clubbed fingers and finding you need more breading materials.

The chops were browned a little more than I prefer and baked slightly too long, but overall, not too bad. Rodney and I both enjoyed them. While they appear bone-dry, the chops were still moist. I admit to gnawing on the bone(s) after the meat was completely removed.  But really, that doesn't say much.  I like gnawing on bones, pork bones especially.

Cost:

• pork loin chops: $4.20
• remaining ingredient SWAG: $3

Total: $7.20 or $3.60 per serving. Not bad, considering they were overpriced chops (i.e., not on sale) and a fairly hefty amount of parmesan cheese was involved.

I'll make these again, but I'll make it a point to cut the browning time down, which will minimize blackening and most certainly ensure an even more moist chop.

Serving the chops with sweet corn and simple mashed potatoes was a good choice as the slight "Italian" component of the chops wasn't overwhelmed by either side.