Panko Crusted Boneless Pork Chops With Mushroom Gravy

04 September 2015

(Serves 4)

Who doesn’t like some pork in their lives right? I’ve been stuck in a little food rut lately and have been cooking chicken day after day and it’s about time for a change. I then remembered that I had gotten some beautiful thick-cut boneless pork chops from Costco and it’s time to break those babies out. But then, what to do with them? I didn’t want to go my usually route of just simply seasoning them with salt and pepper and then giving them a quick bake in the oven. Don’t get me wrong, it does not come out half bad but my palate was just craving a little more than what that had to offer…

I wanted something with a nice crunchy crust as well as a little spicy kick, plus it doesn’t hurt if there was some sort of gravy to go with it right? So I popped my head into the pantry and refrigerator to see what will tickled my fancy. I saw my huge container of panko and an unopened box of mushrooms and everything just fell into place. A crispy panko crust with a gravy loaded with mushrooms would be perfect compliments to the pork! But if you’re anything like my sister and don’t have the same love of mushrooms that I do then you can just omit that from the gravy. On a side note, you will need to mix the flour into the butter prior to tossing it into the pan to create a smooth gravy. As you can see, I had served this with rice but you can easily substitute it with a pasta. I would have done it but there was leftover rice from this morning.

Lately I’ve been having lots of trouble getting Evie to eat anything because of her teething. So all I have to say is that this little rascal really loved the pork. She was eating it faster than I can cut the meat so I consider this a great success and a stress reliever for a mother freaking out because her child won’t eat anything. All the parents out there know what I’m talking about! It’s great when I can come up with a recipe that both my husband and I can enjoy and our daughter loves too.

(Note: I made this a little on the mild side so Evie can enjoy it as well but you can easily amp up the heat by increasing the chili powder.)

1 cup panko	1. Mix well.
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp roasted chili pod powder
3/4 tsp thyme leaves, dried
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 pork chop, thick-cut and boneless	2. Coat each piece of pork with flour. 3. Then coat the pork in the beaten eggs. 4. Finally coat the pork with the panko mix, ensure to press the panko mix firmly on to create an even and thick crust.
1 1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsps olive oil	5. On medium high heat in a cast iron skillet, pan-fry the pork for about 2 minutes until brown. 6. Flip the pork and place in a preheated oven at 350F for about 13 minutes or until the pork reads at 165F.
1/2 tsp black pepper	7. Remove pan from oven and let the pork rest on metal wire surface. 8. In the same skillet on medium high heat; add mushroom, butter and seasoning to pan and sauté for about 2 minutes.
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsps butter, unsalted
6 1/2 oz button mushrooms, sliced
3 tbsps flour	9. Stir in the flour and cook until it becomes translucent.
1/2 cup chicken stock	10. Combine the liquids and slowly drizzle it into the pan, stirring constantly to create a smooth gravy. 11. Continue cooking the gravy until you reach your desired consistency. (Tip: Turn the heat off about a minutes before it hits your desired thickness.)
1 cup whole milk
1 tbsp butter, unsalted	11. Take off heat and mix in the butter until blended.
Chives (optional)	12. Plate pork topped with the gravy and garnished with chives if desired.