Stovetop Pork Chops

To counter the depressing tone of my previous post, I give to you the recipe for stovetop pork chops. EP Dude and I started with a Jacques Pepin recipe and tweaked it to something that works for us when we don't have oodles of time to cook dinner but still want something tasty and not take-out.

Ingredients:

4 trimmed boneless chops
~1/4 Cup all-purpose flour
~1/2 Cup Italian Seasoned bread crumbs
~4 shakes dried Oregano
~2-3 tsps Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay rub (or spices of your choice)
~2-3 tsps fresh ground pepper
~1-2 tsps Kosher salt
1 large egg
Canola Oil

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.


Over medium heat, pour just enough oil into a 10" non-stick skillet to cover the bottom. If your stove is anything like mine, it will take a bit of time for the skillet to come to temperature, giving you enough time to prep the chops.

Combine the flour, bread crumbs, oregano, rub (or spices of your choice), pepper, and salt into a bowl.









Beat the egg in another bowl.










Dip the chops into the egg and then the breading mixture one at a time and set them aside until the skillet heats to temp (which for me is when a couple flakes of breading sizzle in the oil).





























Arrange the breaded chops into the skillet. They should cook for about 6 minutes per side, depending on their thickness. I time it out by washing up the cutting board and dishes from prepping them while they cook on the first side, then flip them and prep the sides while the other side cooks.





When I flip the chops, I make sure that whichever side or end was on the outside of the skillet now rests closer to the middle, to made sure they cook evenly.










When the chops are golden brown on both sides, remove them from the heat and place in an oven-safe glass dish. Put them in the oven until the side dishes are ready This will make sure that they are cooked through and keep them warm.


For tonight's dinner, I made a side of summer veggies right in the same skillet in which I cooked the chops. The recipe for this is from the Betty Crocker cookbook.

Add about 1-2 tablespoons of oil to the already-hot skillet and turn the heat to medium-high.




Start with one zucchini (sliced 1/4" thick), one summer squash(sliced 1/4" thick), and about one cup of sliced mushrooms.












When the skillet is hot enough, toss them all in and stir frequently for 4-5 minutes











When they look like this:


















add one cup of grape tomatoes.












Sprinkle with chives and some garlic powder, and let simmer (still stirring frequenly) for another 2-3 minutes.










Time to plate up!












Oh, I also made a box of Toasted Pine Nut couscous. Yes, from a box.

Who do you think I am? Martha Stewart?