Parmesan Pork Chops

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I had an idea a while ago.  I wanted to see how many dinners I could make from one of those whole Pork loins you can buy at the grocery store.  That was about 6 months ago and I am finally getting around to this project.  I thought I would kick off the project with a longtime favorite recipe for Parmesan Pork Chops.

We do this exact same recipe with chicken breast and chicken thigh.  I also use this Parmesan topping our our Turkey Meatloaves.   So pretty much I haven’t found anything yet that doesn’t taste awesome with a Parmesan crust.

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Onto our pork project.  Sometimes we need the comfort of having budget friendly meals ready to prepare.  The plan is to take one $25 pork loin and turn it into 10 dinners at an average cost of $2.50 per dinner for the 5 of us.  We won’t be able to get away with this in a few years as the kids get older.  The 4 and 1 year old maniacs don’t eat much and I have been told as they grow they will require more food.  We will be freezing portions and I will go into detail on weighing and freezing in the wrap up post on this project.  The pork loin is a little over 8 lbs so to get 10 dinners we will need to make some with under a pound of meat in it.

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The Parmesan Pork Chops recipe is very simple and it tastes amazing.  I am going to use 1 large thick cut section of pork that weighs 1 lb.  You can certainly use a couple smaller chops but I like using one big one and serving slices from it.

To start I mix together 1 heaping tablespoon of mayo, 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

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That mixture is spread over the pork chop on a baking sheet.

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1/4 cup of bread crumbs gets patted down on top. I used panko bread crumbs.  Then I topped that with some dried chives from the garden (I am trying to use up last years dried herbs as I am starting to build a stockpile from this year).

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Into a preheated 400 degree oven it goes for 25 minutes.  Since this was a thick cut I used my meat thermometer to check for 135 degrees and then took it out and let it rest a few minutes.  I used this time to pick pieces of crispy cheese off the baking sheet and eat.  It was time well spent.

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Next I cut slices and serve on a plate loaded with veggies.  They were accompanied by potato wedges, cucumbers, peas, and green beans.

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One pork recipe down and 9 to go.  I hope the maniac don’t get sick of pork dinners!

Parmesan Pork Chop
Author: Blogging with Apples
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: 25 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 1lb Pork Chop
  • 1 tablespoon mayo
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried chives
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and ready baking sheet.
  2. In a bowl combine mayo, cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
  3. Spread mixture on top of pork chop on baking sheet.
  4. Press bread crumbs and chives into the mixture on top of the pork.
  5. Transfer to oven and cook approx 25 minutes until done.
  6. Allow to rest a couple minutes.
  7. Slice and enjoy!
3.3.3077

 

 

Jeff McIntosh

About Jeff McIntosh

Jeff's family lives in his childhood home on a 1/4 acre in town lot. Despite the small space to work with, they have challenged ourselves to produce as much of our own food as possible — and cook it! They document their journey at Blogging with Apples.