Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

A couple of days ago, I visited a new butcher shop, Moody's Meats.  They just opened in my neighborhood.  Recently, we have had an influx of small shops offering locally grown food which has been just awesome!  It is great to have more choices than the local mega-mart!    It reminds me of my childhood and riding around with my grandparents on a Saturday morning shopping trip.  We would stop at the butcher, the baker and the donut maker :-) There was also usually a trip to the farmers market.  The stop at the grocery store was just for non-food items.  My grandfather would let Nana out of the car and then we hit the ice cream stand for a treat while she was shopping.  Ahhhhhh, those were the days!  

Back in the present day, I purchased some ground beef (see my last entry), a pork loin that will be Saturday's supper and 4 boneless pork chops.  They have a great fresh meat and deli case along with  a freezer case.  They will also have local seasonal produce.  With the chops, I made a simple and quick Parmesan crusted chop.  It is a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. The total time was 45 minutes, but only 20 minutes of hands on activity.  

Seriously, how beautiful do those chops look!

After seasoning the chops on both sides, I set up an assembly line of Parmesan, beaten egg and italian bread crumbs and took the chops through the steps.

I then covered a skillet with about a 1/4 inch of sesame oil and put it over medium heat.  When the oil was heated, I pan fried the chops for 6-8 minutes per side.  While the chops were frying, I preheated the oven to 250*F.

When the chops had a nice crust on both sides, I transferred them to a foil lined baking sheet and placed in the oven for 20 minutes.  After baking, I let them rest for 10 minutes before serving.  This keeps the chop very moist!  My sides were peas and waffled hash brown potatoes!!

Giada's Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops:

(Adapted from the Food Network)

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

1-2 cups Parmesan, shredded

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups italian bread crumbs

6-8 tbsp oil

Salt & pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250*F.  Salt and pepper the chops on both sides.  Create an assembly line in the order of Parmesan, eggs and bread crumbs.  Dredge the chops through each ingredient.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Pan fry the chops for 6-8 minutes per side.  Place fried chops on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes.  Let the chops rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Enjoy!!