Victor: “How did you get these chops so juicy?”

Me: “Skill.”

Victor: “The only thing I like more than your cooking is your modesty.”

~~~~~

So… what can I say? I nailed these.

We have more than a couple of pork chops in the freezer from the pork loin I bought a couple of weeks ago. It always seems like such a good idea when I buy these things and then I look in the freezer and it’s “Oh. Pork chops.” I then try and think of something new and different to do with them. And then grill them.

This time, I actually decided to do something a bit different. A while back I saw a recipe that dipped a pork chop in olive oil and then coated it with a bread crumb and parmesan cheese mixture. Something different. I usually go the flour/egg/bread crumb route but this sounded easy. I didn’t have the recipe – just a vague idea of what it was. I have to be careful when I do things from a vaguely-remembered recipe because invariably I’ll forget a key ingredient or step. I wasn’t sure how well the crumbs would stay on the chop, but thought I’d give it a go. Worst-case scenario is I’d have chops without crumbs.

Onward.

To my bread crumbs I added an equal part of shredded parmesan, a pinch of salt, pepper, and some garlic powder. I mixed it all nicely, dipped the chop in olive oil, dredged it in the crumbs – pressing to make sure they adhered – and then placed them on a hot lightly-oiled cast iron pan on medium-high heat for exactly 5 minutes. I flipped them over, and placed them in a 375° oven for exactly 16 minutes.

I never time things – which is why I can never replicate things – but I did have the timer going for the potatoes and cauliflower so that’s why I knew the timing. I only had the timer going for the potatoes so I wouldn’t forget them while doing something else.

My lack of memory is nothing new. Back in my corporate-world-pre-smart-phone days, I had a Palm Pilot that I set every day with my schedule and then had alarms go off to remind me where I had to be at any given time. My staff would laugh at me when my pocket started beeping and ask me where I was supposed to be. My usual answer was Personnel to fire them all.  For being such a creature of habit, I’m not always a creature of habit.

But I digress…

The chops were about an inch thick, so I’m going to try this one again and see if I’m actually on to something or if it was just a really tasty fluke. I’m hoping for the former.

The potatoes were a sweet potato I sliced thin on the mandoline and then mixed with a pat of melted butter and a bit of maple syrup. Into a small casserole they went, covered with foil, and then into that 375° oven for 45 minutes. The cauliflower was drizzled with a tad bit of olive oil and then covered with the leftover crumbs from the pork chops. Also into the oven, but uncovered and for a mere 30 minutes.

So dinner was a success. But even better than a successful dinner is the fact that we’ve been busy making cookies and candies.

Dessert is soon upon us!