Breaded Pork Cutlets

I love pork.  Any kind of pork.  In fact if you put bacon in something, I am going to eat it no questions asked.  One of my favorites is my moms fried pork chops.  She used to make these along with fried potatoes and a big helping of pinto beans and corn bread.  Wow, my mouth is watering just thinking of that meal.

I decided to try something a bit different tonight.   So I took 4 pieces of pork that I cut from the pork loin I used earlier in the week to make my Pulled Pork with Carolina BBQ Sauce.  I had cut them about an inch thick so I decided to pound them out into a thin cutlet to give me more surface area for the seasoned breading I wanted to coat them with.  This also makes them so much quicker to cook so the breading doesn’t get to browned, and most often keeps them from being thick, chewy and dry.

I decided to use some “herbs de Provence” that I found today at the market.  Now for those of you who don’t know what that is, it is simply a combination of herbs that originated in Provence that most often contain a mixtures typically containing  savory, fennel, basil, thyme, and lavender leaves and other herbs.  It adds and amazing taste combination that you might not expect.

Give this one a try and let me know what y’all think.

 

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 boneless pork chops
• Kosher salt
• 2 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water
• 1 cup flour
• about 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs, preferably homemade
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp fresh ground pepper corns
• 2 tbsps dried herbes de provence
• salt and pepper to season
• olive oil (enough to cover frying pan by 1/2 inch

Pound the chops in between a sheet of parchment or waxed paper until at least double it’s size..  I like to use a large zip lock bag that is cut open on both sides. (spray with a bit of cooking spray)

Now put your beaten eggs in a bowl large enough to accommodate the cutlets, along with the flour and bread crumbs in bowls of equal size.  Add the thyme, ground pepper corns and herbes de provence to the bread crumbs and mix well.

Dredge each pork  cutlet in the flour (this helps hold the egg to the meat), then the beaten egg, until completely coated. Shake a bit of the excess of the egg off and then dip into the herbed breadcrumbs, coat well and set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat until hot, then add a few pieces of pork. The pork will cook quickly as it is so thin.  Don’t over crowd the pan, do this in two batches.

Fry until golden brown on each side, adding more oil if needed, but let it come back to temperature before adding more cutlets.

Remove each cutlet from pan and place on paper towel lined plate to draw out excess oil.

Keep warm in a 200 degree oven while frying the rest of the cutlets.