I had these two, boneless pork chops I’d pulled from the freezer when I wasn’t paying attention. Not really enough for dinner for the two of us, I thought.
Of course, I’d just made a fine batch o’ sammich rolls, and Rich had been talking about wanting a pork tenderloin sammich before he left for bidness in New England…
hmmm.
I planned to make an oven-fried, and so, a bit healthier, pork sammich.
QuickLikeABunny, I wrapped my chops in a bit of plastic, gave ’em a couple of good whacks! with the smooth end of my kitchen mallet, grabbed my buttermilk and a zipper bag, tossed the chops in the buttermilk in the bag, and stashed ’em in the fridge overnight.
INGREDIENTS
Pork Chops:
•2 (or 4) boneless chops
•Buttermilk (or use this easy substitute)
Self Rising Seasoned Flour:
•1/2 cup flour
•5/8 tsp baking powder
•1/8 tsp salt
•1/8 tsp Cayenne
•1 tsp black pepper
•1 tsp seasoned salt
Spicy Panko Coating:
•1 cup panko crumbs, run through the blender
•1 tsp paprika
•1 tsp celery salt
•1/4 tsp ground black pepper
•1/4 tsp seasoned salt
•1/4 tsp minced garlic
•1/4 tsp minced dried onion
•1/4 tsp dried bell pepper
•1/4 tsp dried basil leaves
•1/4 tsp dried parsley
•1/4 tsp dried oregano
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1/2 cup regular panko crumbs
Wrap the chops loosely in plastic wrap, or place in a sturdy plastic bag (this will help to keep pork bits spattering all over heck and back whilst you are give the chops a good whack!) and, ermmm, give them a good whack! to flatten them out to a more or less even thinness.
Pop the chops into another bag with some of the buttermilk, a bit of sea salt, and black pepper, then close the bag and stash it in the fridge overnight.
When ready to cook, heat your oven to 400º.
Whisk together the self-rising seasoned flour in a shallow bowl, and the spicy panko coating in another. Pour some additional buttermilk into a third shallow bowl.
Remove the chops from the buttermilk in the bag, shaking off and excess, then cut each in half.
Dip each chop half in the seasoned flour mixture, then in the fresh buttermilk and, finally, in the spicy panko.
Place on a rack set into a foil lined baking pan and let rest for ten minutes.
Bake for 30 minutes – one recipe I researched said 18 to 20 minutes would be fine, but I thought my chops needed that extra ten minutes – mebbe I hadn’t whacked! the chops thin enough in the beginning.
Chops done, let’s make us some sammiches!
For dinner the first night, I lightly toasted a couple of those nice sammich rolls in the hot oven for a few minutes, then spread them with a bit of mayonnaise before adding one of the oven-fried chops, some fresh lettuce, tomato, onion, and sliced garlic dill pickle.
Tasty – but filling, so we found ourselves quite satisfied with our dinner and two of the chop halves leftover.
What to do?
How about pork parmesan open-faced sammiches for dinner the next night?
First, I sautéed 8 oz of sliced ‘shrooms, 1/2 onion, diced, and 2 cloves of garlic, minced, in a bit of butter and olive oil until the onions were tender and the ‘shrooms slightly browned.
I then deglazed the pan with 1/4 cup sweet vermouth and continued cooking until the liquid was reduced to a syrup.
After that, it was just your regular Best! Doctored Pasta Sauce and a good 30 minute simmer.
Once the sauce is ready, slice the leftover pork into thin strips and heat your oven to 350º.
Lightly butter two split rolls and arrange them on a rack set into a foil-lined baking pan.
Brush just a bit of the sauce on the rolls, then arrange the pork strips on top.
Add additional sauce over the pork, than add sliced fresh mozzarella and chopped fresh baisl leaves (from teh garden!)
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until warmed through and the cheese is nicely melted.
Serve with freshly grated black pepper and Aleppo or crushed red pepper.
Color me happy, these were two fine meals for two from just two boneless chops.