I Do Enjoy Crispy Pork Chops

I apologize for the lateness of this post, but due to the Fourth of July holiday and other circumstances I could not post this till now.  Here is the post that should have gone up last week:

This weekend we moved our new meal from Sunday to Saturday so that Laura and I could help a friend with a bit of subterfuge.  Saturday was mean to be a game day with some friends, but unfortunately that was not meant to be and no one could make it.  Instead I spent Saturday morning scouring the interwebs for inspiration for this week’s meal.  Since we had done a lot of chicken recipe lately and we had Lamb at Kabul, I decide on Pork. My searching led to a nice breaded pork recipe I could build off of.  Since it went over so well last time I made pork I pair this dish with my Apple Chutney and our old favorite Jasmine rice.  For the nights serving of vegetable some of the carrots that I have been growing in my garden were ripe and ready to be used in my famous Old Man Mitchell’sTarragon Carrots.

Crispy Pork Chops

What you will need:

• 2 pork chops, bone in
• 1 egg
• ½ teaspoon spicy mustard
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon of ginger (again I recommend the tube kind)
• ¼ teaspoon of Kosher
• ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 cup of panko flakes
• 1 cup of olive oil
• Small block of parmesan cheese
• Small block of asiago cheese
• Fine cheese grater
• Shallow Mixing bowl
• Shallow dish
• Large frying pan

1. In the bowl beat the egg thoroughly
2. Mix in the mustard, oregano, ginger, salt and pepper
3. In a shallow dish grate ½ cup of each cheese
4. Mix the cheese with the panko flakes
5. For each chop, coat in the egg mixture then the panko mixture, set chops aside
6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan
7. Once it’s nice and hot fry each chop for about 3-4 minutes a side, adjust time for how hot you can get the oil. 
8. Let the fried chops cool and serve over rice and a nice coating of the chutney or the chutney on the side if you like.

We really enjoyed this dish.  I found the chutney plays really nicely with the pork and rice.  The chutney has a great heat to it that is undercut well by the rice creating a pleasant warmth in my throat after I have eaten it.

Sunday we met my best friend Dave and his girlfriend Rose, both of whom live in California, at the Reading Terminal for lunch.  The Reading Terminal is an old train terminal that now serves as a giant collection of shops and food stands.  They have some of the finest food and fresh produce in all of Philadelphia there.  Laura and I got some yummy bacon and egg sandwiches from a bakery, while the Californian duo picked up pulled pork from a deli.

After our meal, we told them that we had to go to Laura’s Niece’s birthday party.  ‘This was a bald faced lie.  In reality we were a cog in a scheme.  We drove down to the Philadelphia Art Museum and hid ourselves at the top of the famous Rocky steps.  Laying in waiting I watched as Dave and Rose raced up the stairs.  Once to the top, Dave quickly dropped to one knee and presented a ring to the race’s winner.  That is when I started shooting.  With my Nikon d50 I was able to document the entire proposal.  Rose was very surprised and on cloud nine.  We were honored to be there for this special occasion and happy to help my dear friend Dave.  Congratulation to the happy couple

Till next time, get the hell out of my kitchen.